Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) Where an offence
against section 23 or 24 consists of the depositing of litter or causing
litter to be deposited on any land or on or into any waters from a vehicle or
the breaking of or causing to be broken any glass, metal or glass earthenware
on any land or on or into any waters from a vehicle and the authorised officer
investigating the offence is unable to establish who committed the offence,
the driver or person in charge of the vehicle is to be taken to have committed
the offence and may be proceeded against and is punishable accordingly.
(2) Notwithstanding
subsection (1), the driver or person in charge of a vehicle is not to be
taken to have committed an offence by virtue of that subsection if, not
later than 10 days after the date of service of a summons on that person
for that offence, he or she supplies to the authorised officer who instituted
the proceeding a statement in writing, on oath or by statutory declaration, to
the satisfaction of the authorised officer, verifying that some other person
committed the offence and —
(a)
supplying the name of that other person and the address at which that person
can be located; or
(b) if
that name and address are not known to the person, verifying that the person
does not know and cannot by reasonable diligence find out that other
person’s name and address.
(3) If a prosecution
is instituted against a person named in a statement supplied under
subsection (2), a copy of the statement must be served with the summons.
(4) Where a copy of a
statement is served under subsection (3), the statement may be endorsed
as if it were a summons under section 57 of the Criminal Procedure
Act 2004 , and service may be proven by that endorsement in the same
manner.
(5) Subject to
subsection (3), the production of a statement supplied under
subsection (2) is evidence of the facts stated in it and in the absence
of evidence to the contrary is sufficient evidence of those facts.
(6)
Subsection (1) does not prejudice or affect the liability of a person by
whom an offence was actually committed to be proceeded against and punished,
except that where either that person or a person taken to have committed the
offence by virtue of subsection (1) has been convicted of an offence, the
other of them ceases to be liable under this Act for the offence.
[Section 27A inserted by No. 6 of 1996
s. 10; amended by No. 59 of 2004 s. 141; No. 84 of 2004
s. 78.]