Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts(1) This section applies if—
(a) a suspension is in force under this division because of an infringement notice offence for which an infringement notice has been served on a person; or
(b) a notice has been served on a person under this division because of an infringement notice offence, but the suspension made by the notice is not yet in force; or
(c) the road transport authority would be required to take action under this division because of an infringement notice offence if a suspension were not in force under this division in relation to the person.
(2) If this section applies, the person may apply to the Magistrates Court for a declaration that—
(a) the person did not actually commit the offence; and
(b) the person is not liable for the offence under section 37 (Liability for infringement notice offences involving vehicles).
(3) If relevant to the proceeding, the administering authority has the onus of proving—
(a) that an offence was committed; and
(b) that an infringement notice for the offence was served on the person under section 36 (Service of infringement notices on responsible people for vehicles).
(4) The court may make or refuse to make the declaration.
(5) However, the court may make the declaration only if—
(a) the administering authority fails to prove that an offence was committed; or
(b) the person establishes one of the grounds mentioned in subsection (6).
(6) For subsection (5) (b) the grounds are—
(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 declarations) 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.
(7) If the court makes the declaration, the road transport authority must revoke the suspension (or, if the suspension is not yet in force, the notice) and tell the person, in writing, of the action taken under this subsection.
(8) However, the road transport authority must not take action under subsection (7) if—
(a) for a suspension of a driver licence or vehicle registration—the authority is satisfied on reasonable grounds that another ground exists on which the authority may suspend or cancel the licence or registration; or
(b) for a suspension of the right to drive in the ACT—the authority is satisfied on reasonable grounds that another ground exists on which the authority may suspend the right to drive.
(9) If the road transport authority decides not to take action under subsection (7), the authority must immediately tell the person, in writing, of the decision and the reasons for the decision.