HUMAN REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY ACT 1991 - SECT 53
HUMAN REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY ACT 1991 - SECT 53
53 . Offences by bodies corporate and partnerships
(1) Where a body
corporate is convicted of an offence under this Act, which in this subsection
is referred to as the principal offence, then —
(a)
where a person is or at a material time was —
(i)
an officer of, or a person occupying a position of
authority in, that body corporate; or
(ii)
a person purporting to act in any such capacity,
and that person was in
any way, by act or omission, directly or indirectly, knowingly concerned in or
party to the commission of the principal offence, that person as well as the
body corporate shall be deemed to have committed the principal offence; and
(b)
unless it is proved that —
(i)
such direction had been given; and
(ii)
such supervision had been exercised or caused to be
exercised,
as were reasonably
necessary to ensure that the principal offence was not committed, a person who
is or is deemed to be the licence supervisor in relation to any practice in
respect of which that offence was committed shall be deemed to have committed
the offence as well,
and each shall be
liable to the penalty that is prescribed for the principal offence.
(2) For the purposes
of this section, in relation to a body corporate, a person shall be taken to
be an officer of the body corporate if the person would be an officer within
the meaning of the definition of that term contained in section 9 of the
Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth.
(3) Where the affairs
of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in
relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with functions of
management as if the member were a director of the body corporate.
(4) Where proceedings
for an offence under this Act are taken against a body corporate a person who
by virtue of this section would be liable to a penalty as well as the body
corporate may, on the request of the CEO, be convicted on the proceedings on
which the body corporate is convicted if the court is satisfied that the
person had reasonable notice that the CEO intended to make that request.
(5) Where this Act
provides that a licensee commits an offence in specified circumstances the
reference to the licensee shall be construed as a reference to each person who
holds the licence or exemption.
[Section 53 amended: No. 10 of 2001 s. 109; No. 17
of 2004 s. 35; No. 28 of 2006 s. 270(1).]
[Heading inserted: No. 18 of 2004 s. 8.]
[Heading inserted: No. 18 of 2004 s. 8.]