248Evidentiary
certificates
(1)
A certificate that is issued on behalf of a roads
authority by a person prescribed by the regulations, or by a person belonging
to a class of persons so prescribed, being a certificate that states that on a
date or during a period specified in the certificate:
(a)
a specified road was or was not of a specified
classification, or
(b)
the boundaries or levels of a specified road were
as specified in the certificate, or
(c)
a specified person was or was not an authorised
officer for that authority for the purposes of this Act and the regulations or
for the purposes of a specified provision of this Act or the regulations,
or
(d)
a specified toll or charge was in force with
respect to a specified tollway, bridge, tunnel or road-ferry,
or
(d1)
a specified toll was or was not a relevant toll
in relation to a specified toll point on a specified date for the purposes of
this Act and the regulations or for the purposes of a specified provision of
this Act or the regulations, or
(d2)
a specified person was or was not a toll operator
in relation to a specified tollway, bridge, tunnel or road-ferry,
or
(d3)
a specified point was or was not a toll point in
relation to a specified tollway, bridge, tunnel or road-ferry,
or
(d4)
a specified person was or was not the registered
operator of a specified vehicle, or
(e)
a specified part of a footway was or was not the
subject of a specified approval for a footway restaurant,
or
(f)
a specified gate was or was not the subject of a
public gate permit, or
(g)
a specified work or structure was or was not the
subject of a consent given, extended or transferred by the roads authority,
or
(g1)
a specified structure in, on or over a specified
road was or was not the subject of a specified consent referred to in section
139A, or
(h)
a specified activity was or was not the subject
of a road event permit with respect to a specified public road,
or
(i)
a specified notice was or was not erected in a
specified location, or
(j)
a specified vehicle was or was not the subject of
a specified excess weight permit, or
(k)
a specified vehicle was measured as having had a
specified laden or unladen weight or as having had a load of a specified
weight, or
(l)
a specified part of a vehicle or a specified part
of a vehicle’s load was measured as having had a specified
weight,
is admissible in any legal proceedings and is evidence
of the fact or facts so stated.
(2)
A certificate that is issued on behalf of a roads
authority by a person prescribed by the regulations, or by a person belonging
to a class of persons so prescribed, being a certificate that states
that:
(a)
a specified amount represents the costs incurred
by the roads authority in carrying out specified work or in taking any
specified action, or
(b)
a specified amount represents the costs incurred
by the roads authority in relation to the exercise by an authorised officer of
a function under Division 2,
is admissible in any legal proceedings and is evidence
of the fact or facts so stated.
(3)
A certificate that is issued by a trade
measurement inspector within the meaning of the National Measurement Act
1960 of the Commonwealth, or by the holder of a servicing
licence within the meaning of that Act, being a certificate that states that
on a date specified in the certificate a specified weighing device was tested
and was found to measure accurately (or accurately within specified
tolerances), is admissible in any legal proceedings and is evidence of the
fact that the device measured accurately (or accurately within those
tolerances) at all times within the period of 12 months after that
date.
(4)
A copy of any record, map or plan kept by the
RTA, by a roads authority or by any other public authority for the purposes of
this Act, being a copy that is certified by a person prescribed by the
regulations, or by a person belonging to a class of persons so prescribed, as
being a true copy of the record, map or plan, is admissible in any legal
proceedings and is evidence of the matter or matters contained in the record,
map or plan.
(5)
Without limiting subsection (1), a statement in a
certificate that is issued on behalf of a roads authority by a person
prescribed by the regulations, or by a person belonging to a class of persons
so prescribed, as to any matter that appears in or can be calculated from
records:
(a)
that relate to motor vehicles using tollways or
payment of tolls (or both), and
(b)
that are kept or accessed by the roads authority
or the person,
is admissible in any legal proceedings and is evidence
of the fact or facts so stated.
s 248: Am 1996 No 8,
Sch 1 (8) (9); 2008 No 61, Sch 5 [2] [3]; 2009 No 108, Sch 1.9 [1]
[2].
250AApproved camera recording
devices—toll offences
(1)
In this section:
approved
toll camera means a digital camera of a type approved by the
Governor by order published in the Gazette as being designed:
(a)
to take a photograph of a vehicle as it is driven
past a toll point, and
(b)
to record on the photograph:
(i)
the date on which the photograph is taken,
and
(ii)
the time and location at which the photograph is
taken, and
(iii)
the direction in which the vehicle activating the
camera is travelling, and
(iv)
such ancillary information in connection with the
toll and the photographing of the vehicle at that time and location as may be
prescribed by the regulations.
authorised person means a person
authorised by the RTA to install and inspect approved toll
cameras.
digital
camera means a camera recording device that is capable of
recording images in a digitalised format.
photograph includes a digitalised,
electronic or computer generated image in a form approved by the
RTA.
toll includes a charge or a private
toll or charge.
toll
offence means an offence under the regulations of failing or
refusing to pay a toll.
(1A)
The fact that a camera takes a photograph of a
vehicle only if it is driven in contravention of a requirement to pay a toll,
or records the information referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of
approved
toll camera only on such a photograph, does not prevent the
camera from being an approved toll camera.
(2)
In proceedings for a toll offence:
(a)
a photograph tendered in evidence as a photograph
taken by means of the operation, on a day specified on the photograph, of an
approved toll camera installed at a location specified on the photograph, and
as bearing a security indicator of a kind prescribed by the regulations, is
admissible and is to be presumed:
(i)
to have been so taken unless evidence sufficient
to raise doubt that it was so taken is adduced, and
(ii)
to bear such a security indicator unless evidence
sufficient to raise doubt that it does so is adduced,
and
(b)
evidence that a photograph tendered in evidence
bears a security indicator of a kind prescribed by the regulations is prima
facie evidence that the photograph has not been altered since it was taken,
and
(c)
any such photograph is prima facie evidence of
the matters shown or recorded on the photograph.
(3)
When a photograph referred to in subsection (2)
is tendered in evidence in proceedings for a toll offence, a certificate
purporting to be signed by an authorised person and certifying the following
particulars is also to be tendered in evidence and is admissible and is prima
facie evidence of those particulars:
(a)
that the person is an authorised
person,
(b)
that within 30 days (or such other period as may
be prescribed by the regulations) before the day recorded on the photograph as
the day on which the photograph was taken, the person carried out the
inspection specified in the certificate on the approved toll camera that took
the photograph,
(c)
that on that inspection the approved toll camera
was found to be operating correctly.
(4)
A person who acquires information in the exercise
of functions in connection with the use or operation of an approved toll
camera must not directly or indirectly make a record of or make use of the
information or divulge it to another person, except in the exercise of
functions:
(a)
in connection with the payment and collection of
tolls, or such other functions with respect to tolls as may be prescribed by
the regulations, or
(b)
in connection with the enforcement of a provision
of this Act or the regulations under this Act.
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty
units.
(5)
Subsection (4) does not apply to the divulging of
information by an officer of the RTA or a person exercising functions on
behalf of or otherwise acting under the authority of the RTA, or to the
divulging of information, in accordance with any protocol approved by the
Privacy Commissioner, to any of the following:
(a)
the Independent Commission Against
Corruption,
(b)
the Australian Crime
Commission,
(c)
the New South Wales Crime
Commission,
(d)
the Ombudsman,
(e)
any other person prescribed for the purpose of
this paragraph.
(5A)
Subsection (5) applies only in respect of
information acquired in relation to a vehicle driven in contravention of a
requirement to pay the relevant toll.
(6)
If a certificate under subsection (3) is tendered
in proceedings for an offence, evidence:
(a)
of the accuracy or reliability of the approved
toll camera, or
(b)
as to whether or not the camera operated
correctly or operates correctly (generally or at a particular time or date or
during a particular period),
is not required in those proceedings unless evidence
sufficient to raise doubt that, at the time of the alleged offence, the camera
was accurate, reliable and operating correctly is
adduced.
(7)
For the purposes of this section, an assertion
that contradicts or challenges:
(a)
the accuracy or reliability, or the correct or
proper operation, of an approved toll camera, or
(b)
the accuracy or reliability of information
(including a photograph) derived from such a
camera,
is capable of being sufficient to rebut prima facie
evidence or a presumption, or to raise doubt about a matter, only if it is
evidence adduced from a person who has relevant specialised knowledge (based
wholly or substantially on the person’s training, study or
experience).
s 250A: Ins 1999 No
83, Sch 1 [2]. Am 2003 No 13, Sch 1.29; 2006 No 110, Sch 3 [1]–[3]; 2008
No 61, Sch 5 [4]–[6].