Legal Lowdown Newsletter#17
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Transcript of Legal Lowdown Newsletter#17
© CLSST, 2014 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - [email protected] 1
LEGAL LOWDOWN
LAW NEWS & RFEFORM p1-4 I COMMUNITY p5 I OUTREACH p6 ISSUE
17
NOVEMBER 2014
COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES SOUTH TRUST FOLLOW US:
Tenancy Services: FastTrack Resolution
Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption
Legislation Bill
This omnibus bill is aimed at strengthening the law to
combat organised crime and corruption. The bill pro-
poses amendments to 12 different Acts to improve
New Zealand's ability to collaborate with international
efforts to disrupt organised crime and ensure law en-
forcement agencies can quickly and effectively respond
to new challenges.
Sources: www.parliament.nz
TENANCY: FASTTRACK RESOLUTION
To help streamline tenancy disputes resolution, Tenancy
Services have developed a new dispute resolution service
which is aimed at making it faster and easier for landlords
and tenants to formalize an agreement made following a
dispute.
If there is a dispute between a landlord and tenant, that
has since been resolved by agreement between both par-
ties, a landlord can now file a FastTrack Resolution appli-
cation with the Tenancy Tribunal to formalize that agree-
ment by way of a Mediator’s Order.
A Mediator’s Order is a formal record of an agreement
between a tenant and landlord, made by a Mediator. Un-
der the new process, a Mediator will contact both parties
to determine whether both parties understand what has
been agreed to and to discuss the consequences of non-
compliance with the Order.
To become a legally binding document, the Mediator’s
Order can be referred to a Tenancy Tribunal Adjudicator
who can formalise the Order.
The Mediator will forward a copy of the Order to both
parties to keep on record and to ensure that the terms of
the Order are being met.
For more information about the new FastTrack Resolution
Service or for tenancy advice please visit
www.tenancy.govt.nz or call 0800 83 62 62
LAW REFORM
© CLSST, 2014 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - [email protected] 2
LAW NEWS: News in Community Law
TRAFFIC LAW: KEEPING SAFE ON THE ROAD
MINOR DRIVING OFFENCES
These are offences (other than infringement offences)
where the maximum monetary penalty is $2,000 or less and
there is no possibility of imprisonment.
How are minor driving offences dealt with?
Unless a summons is issued, a District Court will send a mi-
nor offence notice to the person who has offended.
The defendant then has the opportunity to deny and defend
the charge.
Minor traffic offences are usually dealt with by way of fines,
but can involve disqualification from driving
If a person denies the offence or wants to appear before a
judge, they must write to the court by the date stated in the
notice.
They will then be summoned to court.
If a person wishes to plead guilty to a minor driving offence,
they can often do this by letter so that they don't have to
appear in court.
If a person pleads guilty by letter, or does not give written
notice that he or she denies the offence, the court will deal
with the matter while the person is not there.
SERIOUS DRIVING OFFENCES
These are offences where the maximum fine is more than
$2,000 (and for some offences is up to $20,000), or where a
sentence of imprisonment may be given. There is also often
a possible penalty of disqualification.
Examples of serious driving offences include:
careless driving (where a person drives carelessly or
without reasonable consideration for other people using
the road)
reckless driving (where the driver foresees the potential
danger but continues to drive in a reckless manner de-
spite knowing the possible consequences)
failing to stop after an accident.
Careless driving can be committed with any vehicle, not just
a motor vehicle, including bicycles, a skateboard, in-line
skates, and roller skates. In the case of a serious driving of-
offence, the defendant will be summoned to appear in the
District Court and the matter will follow the same proce-
dures as for a criminal court case.
© CLSST, 2014 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - [email protected] 3
LAW NEWS: News in Community Law
TRAFFIC LAW: KEEPING SAFE ON THE ROAD
INFRINGMENT OFFENCES
Infringement offences include parking offences, toll offences,
speeding and overloading offences, breaches of the road code,
unsafe vehicles and some under-20 drink driving offences.
If a Police officer has reasonable cause to believe an infringe-
ment offence has been committed, the officer may issue an
infringement notice.
An infringement notice must be in the form required by law and
may be served:
by attaching it to the vehicle to which it relates
by delivering it to the person who appears to have commit-
ted the offence
by posting it to the last known address of the person who
appears to have committed the offence
if the person is the holder of a land transport document (for
example, a driver licence), by posting it to the last known ad-
dress provided for the purpose of that document.
Pay the infringement fee
If the person accepts that they committed the infringement
offence and simply wishes to pay the infringement fee, they
need to pay the fee in full (including any towing fee) within 28
days of the notice being issued. If they do this, the matter will
end and no further action will be taken against them.
Write a letter to enforcement authority
The person should write to the enforcement authority if:
they deny liability for the offence and want to request a
court hearing
they wish to raise a matter concerning the circumstances of
the offence that they want the enforcement authority to
consider
they admit liability but want to make written submissions to
the court (for example, about the circumstances of the of-
offence or about the penalty).
The enforcement authority will be the Police, local council or
some other official authority
What happens if a person does nothing after receiving an in-
fringement notice?
If a person does nothing, then after 28 days they will be issued
with a reminder notice explaining fully how to defend the
charge and containing a statement of their rights.
In particular the reminder notice must contain:
details of the alleged offence, including time, place and na-
ture
for speeding offences, the speed limit and the speed the per-
son was allegedly travelling
whether any demerit points apply to the offence
if there is a scale of infringement fees, the extent of the of-
offence alleged, and the amount of any infringement fee
how the infringement fee can be paid
the time within which the infringement fee may be paid
a statement that it is a defence if the person proves the in-
fringement fee has been paid before or within 28 days of the
service of the reminder notice
if it is a moving vehicle offence, a summary of the provisions
in section 133 of the Land Transport Act that outline who
proceedings may be taken against
advice of the right to request a hearing advice as to what will
happen if the person doesn't pay the infringement fee and
doesn't request a hearing.
What happens if a person does nothing after receiving a re-
minder notice?
If the person does nothing after receiving a reminder notice, the
enforcement authority can lodge the infringement notice or
infringement reminder notice with the court, so that it can be
enforced. A lodgment fee of $30.67 is added to the amount of
the unpaid infringement ticket and it will then be treated in the
same way as a court-imposed fine.
The court will allow a further 28 days for the fine and court
costs to be paid. If no action is taken, the court will impose an-
other enforcement fee of $102.22.
© CLSST, 2014 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - [email protected] 4
LAW NEWS: News in Community Law
OUTDOOR FIRE SAFETY BY-LAW It is expected that a new Auckland-wide outdoor fire safety by-law will come into force in late December 2014. The new Bylaw will seek to protect people, property and the environment from the risk of fire in the outdoors. The new bylaw will replace four existing bylaws. The new bylaw:
applies to a range of outdoor fire activities including out-
door cooking and heating fires, fireworks, braziers, barbe-
ques, sky lanterns, traditional cooking fires, open air fires
and incinerator fires
determines what type of outdoor fires are allowed in urban
and rural areas and the general conditions that must be met
when lighting an outdoor fire
sets out a process for the council to declare a temporary
fire ban on all types of outdoor fires (excluding gas fuelled
outdoor fires) in extreme fire hazard conditions
sets out a process for approving outdoor fires when neces-
sary
requires a person to be responsible for minimising potential
fire hazards, such as disposing of hot ash and the storage of
combustible materials
The final bylaw will be available online once adopted.
For more information on the new bylaw, please see the Auck-
land Council website: www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
Source: Auckland Council Website
REFORM OF MAORI TRADE MARK PRACTICES In our April 2014 edition of Legal Lowdown, we published an
article on the Haka Ka Mate Attribution Act 2014. The passing
of this Act has prompted the Intellectual Property Office New
Zealand (IPONZ) to make changes to practice guidelines that
apply to parts of the Trade Marks Act 2002 around Maori Trade
Marks.
The new changes prescribe the appointment of an advisory
committee whether registration of trade marks which appear
to be derivative of Maori text or imagery is likely to be offen-
sive to Maori.
To view the new guidelines, please visit the IPONZ website at:
www.iponz.govt.nz
Source: Intellectual Property Office New Zealand
ALL THE BEST EDWIN! Our Manager’s Assistant and Lawyer Edwin Sheppard left us,
this month, after 8 months’ service with CLSST. During his time
with CLSST Edwin was involved with a number of tenancy, con-
sumer, employment
and Care of Children
matters.
We are sad to see
Edwin go but are
excited for what the
future holds for him.
Farewell Edwin! And
all the best from us
here at Community
Legal Services South
Trust.
© CLSST, 2014 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - [email protected] 5
COMMUNITY LAW: Our Community
Community Law National Conference
The Annual Community Law Centres of Aotearoa, National Con-
ference is an opportunity for Community Law Centres to come
together and discuss issues pertinent to the CLC movement
and to attend upskilling workshops.
This year two of our lawyers were invited to present at the
Immigration Law workshop. They covered powers to grant vi-
sas as an exception to instructions, humanitarian & residence
appeals and Minister of Immigration discretional powers.
For advice on Immigration matters please contact our office.
Photo: CLSST Lawyers Soane Foliaki & Hardeep Singh Present-
ers of the Immigration Law Seminar at the National Conference
CLSST says NO to Violence
White Ribbon Day (25 November 2014) seeks to
spread awareness of domestic violence prevention.
One of the key messages of White Ribbon is that “IT IS
OK TO ASK FOR HELP”. For more information please
see the following links:
NMSVS: www.nnsvs.org.nz
Women's Refuge: www.womensrefuge.org.nz
White Ribbon: whiteribbon.org.nz
Photo: CLSST staff & volunteers spreading awareness
Pasifika Newcomer Settlement Support
On 27 November 2014, Soane Foliaki spoke about immigra-
tion, consumer and employment matters to service providers
for migrants who have just been granted New Zealand resi-
dency. His presentation was arranged by ARMS to increase
awareness among new migrants about legal issues they may
face while in New Zealand. Soane’s presentation sought to
mitigate exploitation of new migrants who are unfamiliar
with New Zealand laws.
Photo: CLSST lawyer Soane Foliaki presenting to the Pasifika
Newcomer settlement delegation
© CLSST, 2014 - (09) 274 4966 - www.clsstlaw.com - [email protected] 6
COMMUNITY LAW: Our Community
Otara
CLSST Office
120 Bairds Road
Otara Appointments available:
Monday – Friday
Manukau Salvation Army
16B Bakerfield Place
Manukau
Appointments available:
Monday-Friday
Papakura
Papakura Citizens Advice Bureau
4a Opaheke Road
Papakura
Appointments available:
Thursday
Pukekohe
Heartland Services
2 King Street
Pukekohe
Appointments available:
Fortnightly on Tuesday
Manurewa
Manurewa Marae
81 Finlayson Ave
Manurewa
Appointments available:
Wednesday
Saturday Legal Advice Clinic CLSST Office
120 Bairds Road, OTARA
Appointments or Walk-ins:
Fortnightly on Saturday
(30 mins appointments from 9am-
12pm)
NB: Walk-ins seen according to order
of arrival
OUTREACH CLINICS: Our Community
Student Placement - Manukau Institute of Technology
This month we said farewell to one of our student volunteers Ana Finau who came to us from Manukau Institute of Technolo-
gy. Ana, who was part of the Foundation Education for Tertiary Study programme assisted with day-to-day administrative func-
tions such as data input, photocopying and filing and mail.
We would like to take the opportunity to thank Ana for her services and wish her all the best for her future endeavors.
Photo: CLSST staff with student volunteer Ana Finau.