Lawyer says $1300 coronavirus fines might not stand up in court

A top lawyer says there might be a potential for injustice in the State Government’s hastily-enacted public health directives and says there is confusion within the community about what is and isn’t allowed.

HEFTY fines being handed out by police to people breaching COVID-19 restrictions risk falling over if challenged in court because hastily-enacted public health directives are confusing and ambiguous, a criminal lawyer has warned.

Lawyer Calvin Gnech.

Lawyer Calvin Gnech said there was also the potential for injustice, with innocent people caught out making an “honest decision”.

Using this week’s example of fines mistakenly issued to people visiting the Willawong tip – which was open to the public – Mr Gnech said people were, in many cases, confused about what is allowed.

"I don't think there is any malice in all of this,” he said.

“I think there is a commitment to trying to keep the community safe and trying to abide by the intents of the whole scheme.

“Where the problem lies, both from an enforcement point of view and a community point of view, is that the public health directions are confusing.”

His warning comes as police handed out close to $100,000 in fines in 24 hours to people ignoring COVID-19 public health directions.

Statistics released today by Queensland Police Service show some people are still breaking the rules, with 73 fines handed out in the 24 hours to 12.01am Tuesday across the state.

It brought the total since March 27 to 827.

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Police can issue on-the-spot fines of $1334 for an individual or $6672 for a corporation.

“What happens when these matters get to court? I think the ambiguity will both cause failed prosecutions and it will also cause injustices to occur where innocent conduct is being caught by the criminal law,” Mr Gnech said.

Acting Superintendent Jason Overland.

Police around the state said the vast majority of Queenslanders were being vigilant about stopping the spread of COVID-19, although officers on the Sunshine Coast had broken up several Easter gatherings.

“The parks and beaches were a lot quieter than normal, which was great, Sunshine Coast district Acting Superintendent Jason Overland said of the Easter weekend.

“We did, however, issue 39 infringement notices during the period and the majority of those came from gatherings where there were two or more people in direct contravention of the Chief Health Officer’s directives.

“We only issue those as a last resort, clearly when education and communication don’t work, we have to use enforcement.”

Police on patrol at Burleigh Heads beach. Picture: Nigel Hallett

He said of the 39 fines, 10 were handed out to people at a party at Eumundi.

“Five were at another party and a group of four youths (were fined) in a 4WD that had been bush bashing on private property,” he said.

“People are still trying to indicate that they didn’t know we’re in the middle of a pandemic and you should maintain social distance.”

Supt Overland said the fines were “not about the money – it’s about community safety”.

“What we’re trying to achieve with this is to ensure that people stay socially distant,” he said.

Police also intercepted 500 boats around North Stradbroke Island in the past week and told them to keep 100m away from the shoreline.

“This was a proactive measure to engage with the boating community and to provide them with information and advice about the travel restrictions to the island,” a police statement said.

“While a small number of infringement notices were issued, most people intercepted or spoken to complied with the restrictions.”

Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski. Picture: Jerad Williams

Police this week announced they were setting up a system to review fines after The Courier-Mail inquired about people being fined for taking rubbish to the tip.

“What you’ve got to remember is how rapidly this system’s come in and how rapidly things have changed and how we’ve seen continual changes to the directions (as) things got more restrictive,” Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said.

“(People have) had to adjust – and we’ve had to adjust as well.

“And some of it is messaging. This is one of those instances where every person in the Queensland community is impacted.”

Mr Gollschewski agreed that if a business or service was legally allowed to operate, people should be able to access it without being fined.