IR-01-23-33743
15 November 2023
Lee
[FYI request #24505 email]
Dear Lee
I refer to your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request dated 23 October 2023 for
information regarding infringement notices.
You requested:
1. Police quote that they operate under the Land Transport Act. Can you please tell
me if the New Zealand Police have a contract with The New Zealand Land
Transport Agency?
Police do not require a contract with the New Zealand Transport Agency to enforce laws
stipulated in the Land Transport Act 1998.
You might be interested to know that there is publicly available information regarding New
Zealand laws that are not contractual in nature. For example, Te Ara – The
encyclopaedia of New Zealand has an article on Law you may find helpful:
https://teara.govt.nz/en/law.
2. Under the Policing Act 2008 schedule 1 and Part 4 of the Act: A Police employee
warranted as a Police transport enforcement officer has the fol owing powers ...
And Land Transport Act 1998 Section 113 Enforcement officers may enforce
transport legislation (1) An enforcement officer in uniform or in possession of a
warrant or other evidence of his or her authority as an enforcement officer ...
Must Police provide their warrant of authority as an enforcement officer when
asked to do so?
As the question notes, ‘
Enforcement officers may enforce transport legislation…in
uniform or’. In cases in which a driver is pul ed over for committing a traffic offence, the
attending Police officer will be in uniform and provide their identifying number (QID) if
requested.
3. As an infringement notice is only an al egation, please explain how police can
make a claim for payment:
4. If a crime has not been committed?
5. Do police only have authority in criminal matters? If so what?
6. Do police have any authority in civil/contract matters? If so what?
Under section 139 of the Land Transport Act 1998, if an enforcement officer has
reasonable cause to believe an infringement offence is being or has been committed by a
person, an infringement notice in respect of that offence may be issued. The offence in
question is alleged until liability admitted by the driver, usually in the form of payment, or
New Zealand Police Infringement Bureau PO Box 9147, Wel ington 6141, New Zealand.
Telephone: 04 381 0000. Call Free 0800 105 777. www.police.govt.nz
a court hearing is requested. If you have received an infringement notice, please refer to
the summary of rights.
The OIA requires Police to release information it holds, but it does not require Police to
create information in order to grant a request or to engage in debate. For this reason,
Police refuses this part of your request under section 18(g) of the OIA as it does not hold
the information.
7. Does the Criminal Procedures section 381 Payment of fees, fines, etc Section
208 of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 applies to all fees, fines, reparation,
costs, and other money payable on any proceedings commenced by the filing of
a charging document make the claim for payment by police nul and void 5. Does
Article 12 of the 1688 Bil of Rights states "Grants of forfeitures - That all grants
and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are
il egal and void.
8. Would this then be deemed that police are acting as revenue col ectors for
pecuniary gains?
The Criminal Procedures Act section 381 and Section 208 of the Summary Proceedings
Act 195 do not make an infringement notice nul and void. If you are having difficulty
interpreting the legislation, you may wish to seek independent legal advice.
With regards to your concerns surrounding revenue gathering, you may be reassured to
know that no money received from speeding infringements is retained by Police. Rather,
under section 141 of the Land Transport Act 1998, al money received in respect to
infringement fees are directed into a Government consolidated fund where it is then
allocated based on the priorities of the Government of the day. This allocation is reflected
in the Government’s annual budget which sets out how much revenue is collected and
how it intends to spend it. Further information on the last budget may be found on
https://budget.govt.nz/.
Police is committed to reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads
and has no tolerance for speeding at any time of the year. Al drivers have the
responsibility to ensure their speed is safe and within the applicable limit. Evidence
shows a direct correlation between mean travel speeds and the risk of death or serious
injury crashes. For every 1 km/h reduction in mean speeds there is a 5 percent reduction
in road trauma which equates to 16 lives saved each year.
It should be noted that information requested under the OIA runs separately to the
infringement process. Therefore, continued correspondence with Police in regard to these
matters does not remove your obligation to either request a court hearing or pay the
infringement fee by the final due date.
For more information on infringements, including how to dispute the offence, please refer
to the below address:
https://www.police.govt.nz/advice-services/infringement-
services/infringements
New Zealand Police Infringement Bureau PO Box 9147, Wel ington 6141, New Zealand.
Telephone: 04 381 0000. Call Free 0800 105 777. www.police.govt.nz
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this
decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Aislinn Sederel
Acting Manager: Police Infringement Bureau
New Zealand Police Infringement Bureau PO Box 9147, Wel ington 6141, New Zealand.
Telephone: 04 381 0000. Call Free 0800 105 777. www.police.govt.nz
