Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts

ROAD TRANSPORT (GENERAL) ACT 1999 (NO. 77 OF 1999) - SECT 37

(1)     If an infringement notice for an infringement notice offence is served on a person under section 36 (Service of infringement notices on responsible persons for vehicles), the person on whom the notice is served is liable for the offence, and may be convicted of and punished for the offence, even though the person who actually committed the offence (the actual offender ) may have been someone else.

(2)     If the actual offender is not the responsible person (or a responsible person) for the vehicle at the time of the offence, subsection (1) does not affect the liability of the actual offender, but—

        (a)     an additional penalty for the offence may not be recovered from or imposed on the actual offender if an infringement notice penalty for the offence has been paid by, or a penalty has been imposed on, the responsible person (or a responsible person) for the vehicle at that time; and

        (b)     an additional penalty for the offence may not be recovered from or imposed on the responsible person (or a responsible person) for the vehicle at that time if an infringement notice penalty for the offence has been paid by, or a penalty has been imposed on, the actual offender.

(3)     However, in a prosecution against a responsible person for a vehicle for an infringement notice offence involving the vehicle, it is a defence if the responsible person establishes—

        (a)     that the vehicle was stolen, or illegally taken or used, at the time of the offence; or

        (b)     that the person made and gave to the administering authority a known user declaration in accordance with section 39 (Known user declaration) for the offence and, if the person is an individual, that someone else was the driver of the vehicle at the time of the offence; or

        (c)     that the vehicle (or all of the person's interest in the vehicle) had been sold or disposed of by the person before the time of the offence, and that at that time the person did not have an interest in the vehicle; or

        (d)     that—

              (i)     the person was not the driver of the vehicle at the time of the offence; and

              (ii)     the person does not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have found out, the name and address of the driver of the vehicle at that time.