Liability of occupier
102 Liability of occupier
(1) An occupier of land must take reasonable steps and exercise due diligence, having regard to the nature and extent of the occupation, to prevent an offence under this Act occurring on the land.
(2) An occupier of land is taken to have committed a relevant offence if:
(a) a person (the offender) commits a relevant offence; and
the offence occurs wholly or partly:
on or below the surface of the land or part of the land; or
on or in a waterway that is immediately adjacent to the land; or
(iii) on or in the bed or banks of a waterway that is immediately adjacent to the land.
(3) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence taken to have been committed under subsection (2) if the defendant took reasonable steps and exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.
(4) The defendant has a legal burden of proof in relation to a matter mentioned in subsection (3).
This section does not affect the liability of the offender.
(6) This section applies whether or not the offender is prosecuted for, or found guilty of, the relevant offence.
In this section:
relevant offence means an offence against section 40(1), 42(1), 44(1), 46(1), 56(1), 58(1), 59(1), 61(1), 66(1) or 68(1).
This Act’s bill:Second reading speech
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