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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (4 December) . . Page.. 4671 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing)

. provides, in addition, for civil enforcement procedures where there is a capacity to pay; and

. enables imprisonment to be imposed as a last resort.

The scheme will apply to all fines and levies imposed by ACT courts; that is, the Supreme Court, the Magistrates Court and the Children's Court. It will be administered by the Registrar of the Magistrates Court.

The new scheme for the enforcement of court imposed fines has the following features:

. the Court will make an order which will include a fine and specify a time to pay;

. a penalty notice will be sent to an offender advising the amount to be paid and possible enforcement action upon default in payment;

. a default notice to pay will be served on an offender, once the time to pay has expired and the offender is in default, notifying the enforcement action that will be taken if the fine remains unpaid;

. where a defaulter is licensed to drive and the fine remains unpaid (at the expiration of the period specified in the default notice), the Registrar shall notify the Registrar for Motor Vehicles to suspend the defaulter's driving licence or right to drive within the ACT. Where a defaulter is not licensed, the Registrar will make an order requiring the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to suspend the defaulter's vehicle registration or ability to obtain or renew a licence;

. a default notice will include a requirement that a defaulter provide to the Registrar detailed financial information concerning their property and financial circumstances to enable the Registrar to determine the capacity of the defaulter to pay;

. the Registrar will assess the written financial information and will also be able to review relevant personal information from other

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