ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT 1993 - SECT 124
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT 1993 - SECT 124
(1) It will be a
defence in any criminal proceedings, or in any proceedings for the payment of
an amount as a civil penalty, in respect of an alleged contravention of this
Act, including—
(a)
proceedings against a body corporate or a natural person where conduct or a
state of mind is imputed to the body or person under this Part; and
(b)
proceedings against an officer of a body corporate under this Part,
if it is proved that the alleged contravention did not result from any failure
on the defendant's part to take all reasonable and practicable measures to
prevent the contravention or contraventions of the same or a similar nature.
(2) Without limiting
the effect of subsection (1), the defence provided by that subsection
includes the defence that the act or omission alleged to constitute the
contravention was justified by the need to protect life, the environment or
property in a situation of emergency and that the defendant was not guilty of
any failure to take all reasonable and practicable measures to prevent or deal
with such an emergency.
(3) Where a body
corporate or other employer seeks to establish the defence provided by this
section by proving the establishment of proper workplace systems and
procedures designed to prevent a contravention of this Act, that proof must be
accompanied by proof—
(a) that
proper systems and procedures were also in place whereby any such
contravention or risk of such contravention of this Act that came to the
knowledge of a person at any level in the workforce was required to be
reported promptly to the governing body of the body corporate or to the
employer, or to a person or group with the right to report to the governing
body or to the employer; and
(b) that
the governing body of the body corporate or the employer actively and
effectively promoted and enforced compliance with this Act and with all such
systems and procedures within all relevant areas of the workforce.
(4) A person who
would, but for the defence provided by this section, have contravened a
provision of this Act is, despite that defence, to be taken to have
contravened that provision for the purposes of—
(a) any
proceedings under section 104 in respect of the contravention; and
(b) the
issuing or enforcement of any clean-up order or clean-up authorisation under
this Act in respect of the contravention; and
(c) the
making by a court of an order under section 133 in proceedings for an
offence in respect of the contravention.