South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts45B—Power of police to impose licence disqualification or suspension
(1) Subject to this
section, if a person is given an expiation notice for—
(a) an
offence against section 45A; or
(b) an
offence against section 79B constituted of being the owner of a vehicle
that appears from evidence obtained through the operation of a
photographic detection device to have been involved in the commission of an
offence against section 45A,
a police officer may give the person a notice of licence disqualification or
suspension in the prescribed form.
(2) If a person is
given a notice of licence disqualification or suspension under
subsection (1)—
(a) in
the case of a person who does not hold a driver's licence—the person is
disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver's licence for the
relevant period; or
(b) in
the case of a person who holds a driver's licence—the person's driver's
licence is suspended for the relevant period.
(3) The Commissioner
of Police must ensure that prescribed particulars of a notice of licence
disqualification or suspension given to a person under this section are
forwarded to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles.
(4) The Registrar of
Motor Vehicles must, on receiving particulars of a notice of licence
disqualification or suspension from the Commissioner of Police, send, by post,
a notice to the person of the name and address specified by the Commissioner
containing the prescribed particulars of the notice of licence
disqualification or suspension.
(5) The operation of a
notice of licence disqualification or suspension is not affected by any
failure to comply with subsection (4).
(6) If a person is
given a notice of licence disqualification or suspension in accordance with
subsection (1) and the expiation notice referred to in that subsection is
withdrawn or the person elects to be prosecuted in accordance with the
Expiation of Offences Act 1996 —
(a) the
notice of licence disqualification or suspension is cancelled (and, if the
relevant period has commenced, any licence held by the person at the
commencement of the relevant period is taken to be in force again); and
(b) the
Commissioner must give written notice of the cancellation to the
Registrar of Motor Vehicles.
(a) a
period of licence disqualification or suspension has applied to a person as a
result of the person having been given a notice of licence disqualification or
suspension under this section; and
(b) a
court convicts the person of the offence in relation to which the notice was
given or another offence arising out of the same course of conduct; and
(c) a
mandatory minimum period of disqualification would (apart from this
subsection) be required to be imposed for the offence,
then—
(d) the
court must order that the person be disqualified from holding or obtaining a
driver's licence for a period determined by the court (and if the person is
the holder of a driver's licence, the disqualification operates to cancel the
licence from the commencement of that period); and
(e)
despite any other provision of this or any other Act, the court must, in
determining the period, take into account the period of licence
disqualification or suspension that has applied to the person as a result of
the notice and may impose a period that is less than the mandatory minimum
period of disqualification (provided that the period imposed is not less than
the difference between the mandatory minimum and the period that has applied
as a result of the notice).
(8) Subject to
subsection (9), no compensation is payable by the Crown or a police
officer in respect of the exercise, or purported exercise, of powers under
this section.
(9)
Subsection (8) does not protect a police officer from liability in
respect of the exercise, or purported exercise, of powers otherwise than in
good faith.
(10) For the purposes
of this section—
(a) the
"relevant period" commences—
(i)
in the case of a notice given to a person who has been
given an expiation notice for an offence against section 45A—
(A) 24 hours after the notice of licence
disqualification or suspension is given to the person; or
(B) if, at the time referred to in
subsubparagraph (A), the person is already disqualified from holding or
obtaining a driver's licence or holds a driver's licence that is
suspended—at the end of that period of disqualification or suspension;
or
(ii)
in the case of a notice given to a person who has been
given an expiation notice for an offence against section 79B—
(A) 28 days after the notice of licence
disqualification or suspension is given to the person; or
(B) if, at the time referred to in
subsubparagraph (A), the person is already disqualified from holding or
obtaining a driver's licence or holds a driver's licence that is
suspended—at the end of that period of disqualification or suspension;
(b) the
"relevant period" ends—
(i)
if the notice is cancelled in accordance with
subsection (6); or
(ii)
if the notice is not cancelled—at the end of
6 months from the commencement of the relevant period.
(11) A regulation made
before the commencement of this subsection prescribing the form of a notice of
licence disqualification or suspension under this section or varying such a
form is declared to be, and to have always been, valid.
(12) A notice given to
a person by a police officer before the commencement of this subsection that
purported to be a notice of licence disqualification or suspension under this
section is declared to be, and to have always been, valid if the notice was
completed in the prescribed form and was given in the circumstances specified
in subsection (1).