NTG yet to decide whether to refund dodgy speeding fines following court ruling

THE Territory Government is yet to decide whether to issue refunds to thousands of Darwin and Palmerston drivers who were potentially unlawfully fined for speeding

• NOT GUILTY: Court ruling throws thousands of Darwin and Palmerston drivers’ speeding fines into doubt

THE Territory Government is yet to decide whether to issue refunds to thousands of Darwin and Palmerston drivers who were potentially unlawfully fined for speeding.

Local Court judge Tanya Fong Lim this week threw out two speeding charges after ruling the police speed cameras used to detect the alleged offences hadn’t been properly tested.

On Thursday, Attorney-General Selena Uibo said the government was yet to seek advice on what action “if any” it would take as a result of the ruling.

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“The Northern Territory Government needs to seek advice on the implications of this court decision and what actions if any may be required,” she said.

Speaking outside court after the case against Tania Laurencont was dismissed on Wednesday, her lawyer, Ray Murphy, said any other outstanding fines would now be contestable on the same basis as Ms Laurencont’s.

“In relation to fines that have already been paid, I’m not too sure (but) there may very well be an action available, for unjust enrichment, against the government,” he said.

During question time, Police Minister Nicole Manison also said the government was considering the implications of Ms Fong Lim’s decision “and what actions may need to be taken if required”.

“It is something that we are having a look at to see the implications of what has occurred there in the courts and it will be something certainly that we’ll be coming back to this parliament and to the public with, with more advice in relation to it,” she said.

“Questions have certainly been raised but this is a matter that has popped up, that is still being looked into, which occurs from time to time within government.

“We have all sorts of measures that go before the courts that have implications for governments and then they have to be taken back and seriously considered.”

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NT Police Commander Travis Wurst said police were reviewing the potential impact of yesterday’s decision.

“As soon as we were aware of the issue we took steps to ensure the accuracy of future tests,” he said.

“The collection of fines is not a police matter.”

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