This is general information only – not legal advice. You should always get advice tailored to your specific circumstances before electing to be heard in open court. This information is only relevant to you if you are intending to plead guilty, if you wish to contest the charge (plead not guilty) you should consider retaining legal representation.
If you have applied for an Internal Review of the infringement and it was unsuccessful, you can either pay the fine or you can elect to have the matter referred to the Magistrates' Court. In most cases, where you have actually committed the offence, but there are extenuating circumstances - you may go and plead guilty and explain why you believe the fine should be withdrawn. In some cases you may wish to contest the matter and plead not guilty because you have a lawful defence - such as taking all reasonable steps to hold a valid ticket - or because you have evidence that the infringement was issued in error.
The organisation that issued the fine will send you a notice of the hearing date. At court, you will have the opportunity to plead guilty or not guilty. If you plead not guilty you will have the chance to tell your version of events. If you plead guilty the court will decide what action should be taken.
What can a court decide?
The court can make the following orders (among others):
If you are found or plead guilty, the court can make the following orders:
Do I need a lawyer?
If you wish to take your matter to the Magistrates’ Court, please contact us to discuss.
Pleading Guilty
If, after an unsuccessful internal review, you ask to have your matter brought to the Magistrate's Court, you will subsequently receive a Charge Sheet and Summons in the mail with the time, place and date of the hearing.
Be on time, but be aware that things at the Magistrate’s Court happen slowly and generally later than you might expect. If you have a 1:30 PM appearance listed, not much is likely to happen until 2:00 PM. Before anyone enters the Court, he or she will be asked by the Prosecutor (the legal representative of the Dept of Transport) to check the details of the case with them. They will generally take you into a small interview room, off the main waiting area. There will be a file with your name on it and the Prosecutor will check through it with you to make sure it’s all complete and not in error.
Again this is a slow process. The case that the prosecutor puts forward to the magistrate is fairly inflexible and is restricted by the notes written by the Authorised Officers.
After you have spoken to the Prosecutor, and once the Court is open, you should present to the Registrar. Generally it can be good to hang back a bit because the appearances will happen in the order you speak to the Registrar and it can be good to see a few matters dealt with first so you get a feel for the Magistrate. The Registrar sits off to the side of the Magistrate, and hands the cases to the Magistrate in a first come first served basis.
Once Court is in session each defendant will be called to address the Magistrate. The charge is described and the Magistrate will check if it is a good summary of the events of the encounter with the Authorised Officers.
Once the Magistrate determines that all parties agree on the facts, they will ask the defendant how they plead. However you can also ask for an Indication of Sentence.
Once you enter a guilty plea, the Magistrate will generally say something like: 'I find the charge proven. Would you like to speak on the matter?'
You may then elaborate on the facts provided by the Authorised Officers. You should respectfully explain why, despite the agreed facts, you don't think you should be fined.
Pleading Not Guilty
Please contact the UMSU Legal Service Advice Line on 0468 720 668 between 1:00 and 4:30 pm Monday to Thursday to discuss.