Georgina Mitchell reports for Sydney Morning Herald
Barkho, 51, was at his cafe in Glebe in Sydney’s inner west on August 17, 2021, when two police officers walked in.
While they observed that he was displaying a QR code and all his staff members and takeaway customers were wearing masks, they asked to see his COVID safety plan.
He was later issued with a $1000 fine that cited the old expired document and suggested he had perhaps never held a COVID safety plan.
A test case in the NSW Supreme Court is aiming to have fines such as Barkho’s and Rathie’s declared invalid, arguing infringements for offences like “not comply with noticed direction s 7/8/9” do not provide enough detail, as required by the Fines Act.
One of the orders sought in the case is a declaration that any money paid for the plaintiffs’ fines be repaid. If the case is successful, people who have paid COVID-19 fines could potentially use the precedent to ask for a refund.
When the case was mentioned in the Supreme Court this week, a barrister appearing for the NSW Police Commissioner and the Commissioner of Fines Administration said her clients had been told very little about the case, but were aware it had been described as a test case.
The case will be mentioned in court again in August and a hearing is set for November.
Read full article: Recipient of COVID fine tells of confusion as he challenges ticket in court (Sydney Morning Herald, 22 July 2022)
