Monetary Penalties Enforcement Act 2005

If a person defaults in the payment of an order imposing a fine made before the commencement of this Act, the person may be proceeded against as if the order were made after this Act commenced.

For the purposes of subsection (1), an undertaking to pay a prescribed penalty contained in an infringement notice that was lodged with a designated clerk of petty sessions before the commencement of this Act is taken to be an order imposing a fine made by a court before the commencement of this Act.

A person who has been served with an infringement notice that was issued on or after 1 December 2007 and before the day on which section 1 commences and has not been withdrawn may be served with a notice from the Director advising the person that the infringement notice is to be enforced under this Act.

When a person is served with a notice from the Director under subsection (1B), the infringement notice becomes enforceable under this Act.

A notice from the Director under subsection (1B) must contain the following information:the date of issue of the infringement notice to which the notice relates; the total amount of the penalty or penalties on that infringement notice which remains outstanding; the methods by which payment of that amount may be made; a statement that, if the person on whom the notice is served wishes to have the offence or offences to which the infringement notice relates heard and determined by a court, he or she must lodge a notice of election in accordance with this Act within 28 days of the service of the notice; a statement that, if the person on whom the notice is served does not lodge a notice of election within 28 days of the service of the notice, he or she will be taken to be convicted of the offence or offences set out in the infringement notice and the amount outstanding under the infringement notice may be recovered under this Act.

Where an infringement notice becomes enforceable under this Act by the operation of subsection (1C), any time limit imposed by another Act for taking action in respect of the offence or offences to which the infringement notice relates is to be extended by 3 months.

If a person who is subject to an order imposing a fine made before the day on which section 1 commences applies to the Director for a variation of payment conditions in relation to that order, the order is to be dealt with under this Act as though it were an order made after that day.

A fine, in relation to which enforcement proceedings taken before the commencement of this Act were adjourned sine die by the court or transferred by the court on its own motion to the Magistrates Court (Civil Division), may at the discretion of the Director become a fine which can be enforced under this Act on the service of a notice to that effect on the person on whom the fine was imposed.

Any enforcement proceedings for the payment of a fine that were, before the commencement of this Act, transferred by the court on its own motion to the Civil Division may, at the discretion of the Director, become a debt which can be enforced under this Act once a notice to that effect is issued to the defendant.

A warrant of apprehension issued, but not executed, before the commencement of this Act is void as from that commencement.

A warrant of commitment issued under section 47 of the Sentencing Act 1997 but suspended on conditions before the commencement of this Act may be executed at the discretion of the Director if he or she is satisfied that the conditions of suspension have been breached.