Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) A reference in
subsection (2), (3), (5) or (7) to an authorised person is a reference to
a person appointed under subsection (11) to be an authorised person for
the purposes of the subsection in which the term is used.
(2) An authorised
person who has reason to believe that a person has committed a prescribed
offence against this Act may, within 21 days after the alleged offence is
believed to have been committed, give an infringement notice to the alleged
offender.
(3) An infringement
notice must be in the prescribed form and must in every
case —
(a)
contain a description of the alleged offence;
(b)
advise that if the alleged offender does not wish to be prosecuted for the
alleged offence in a court, the amount of money specified in the notice as
being the modified penalty for the offence may be paid to an authorised person
within a period of 28 days after the giving of the notice; and
(c)
inform the alleged offender as to who are authorised persons for the purposes
of receiving payment of modified penalties.
(4) In an infringement
notice the amount specified as being the modified penalty for the offence
referred to in the notice must be the amount that was the prescribed modified
penalty at the time the alleged offence is believed to have been committed.
(5) An authorised
person may, in a particular case, extend the period of 28 days within
which the modified penalty may be paid and the extension may be allowed
whether or not the period of 28 days has elapsed.
(6) Where the modified
penalty specified in an infringement notice has been paid within 28 days
or such further time as is allowed and the notice has not been withdrawn, the
bringing of proceedings and the imposition of penalties are prevented to the
same extent as they would be if the alleged offender had been convicted by a
court of, and punished for, the alleged offence.
(7) An authorised
person may, whether or not the modified penalty has been paid, withdraw an
infringement notice by sending to the alleged offender a notice in the
prescribed form stating that the infringement notice has been withdrawn.
(8) Where an
infringement notice has been withdrawn after the modified penalty has been
paid, the amount must be refunded.
(9) An amount paid as
a modified penalty must, subject to subsection (8), be credited to the
Plant Diseases Modified Penalties Revenue Account established under
section 35AA.
(10) Payment of a
modified penalty must not be regarded as an admission for the purposes of any
proceedings, whether civil or criminal.
(11) The Director
General may, in writing, appoint persons or classes of persons to be
authorised persons for the purposes of subsection (2), (3), (5) or (7) or
for the purposes of 2 or more of those subsections, but a person who is
authorised to give infringement notices under subsection (2) is not
eligible to be an authorised person for the purposes of any of the other
subsections.
(12) The Director
General must issue to each person who is authorised to give infringement
notices under this section a certificate stating that the person is so
authorised, and the authorised person must produce the certificate whenever
required to do so by a person to whom he has given or is about to give an
infringement notice.
[Section 35 inserted by No. 40 of 1993
s. 17; amended by No. 49 of 1996 s. 64; No. 84 of 2004
s. 80; No. 77 of 2006 s. 17.]