Christopher Knaus reporting in The Guardian
Late last year, the state government was forced into an embarrassing backflip over its enforcement of Covid-related restrictions in 2020 and 2021, withdrawing 33,000 fines worth $30m.
The withdrawals were forced by a NSW Supreme Court case brought by the Redfern Legal Centre questioning the legality of the government’s enforcement.
The case prompted government lawyers to concede in November that infringement notices failed to provide enough detail to the recipient about what they were alleged to have done.
Despite the ruling, the NSW government has declined to withdraw another 29,017 other Covid-19 fines.
Samantha Lee, Redfern Legal Centre’s police accountability solicitor, said Thursday’s ruling may also affect those remaining fines.
“This judgment calls into disrepute all remaining Covid-19 fines because the fines do not meet the legal requirement to be a valid penalty notice,” she said.
The government must now do the right thing and withdraw all Covid-19 fines that were issued, including withdrawing those offences for which individuals elected to take to court, any work and development orders and reimburse fines already paid.
Read the full article here (6 April, 2023).
