Infringement Notice Research Articles

A procedurally just flyer reduces subsequent speeding offences: evidence from the Queensland Speeding Engagement Trial (QSET)

Abstract Objectives The purpose of this study was to test the impact of a procedural justice letter intervention that was delivered with traffic infringement notices on subsequent speeding offences. Method This study used the Queensland Speeding Engagement Trial (QSET) to experimentally test the impact of using the principles of procedural justice within a police issued letter, on individuals detected speeding by cameras. Participants in the control condition (n = 7946) received a speeding infringement notice as per normal while those in the experimental condition (n = 8209) received the procedurally just letter in addition to the speeding infringement notice. Administrative data for the 12 months following the intervention was used to identify if participants engaged in subsequent speeding and other traffic offending behaviours. Results The results indicated that the intervention reduced subsequent speeding offences for drivers 25 years and older in the experimental condition when compared with the control condition. No differences were found for other types of traffic offences. Conclusions Thus, this study demonstrates that the effects of procedural justice (a) can be achieved through purposeful written communication and (b) reduce subsequent offending behaviour.

The savings associated with decriminalization of drug use in New South Wales, Australia: A comparison of four drug policies

IntroductionMost Australian states and territories have established some form of scheme to divert minor drug offenders from court. However, the number charged with drug possession continues to rise. We examine the costs of four alternatives to existing policy in relation to people apprehended by police using or in possession of a prohibited drug. MethodsWe construct a Markov micro-simulation model to examine four policies: (1) current policy; (2) expanding the existing cannabis cautioning scheme to all drug use/possession offences; (3) issuing an infringement notice to all those found using or in possession of a prohibited drug; (4) prosecuting all drug use/possession offences in the courts. The cycle length is one month. Since our aim is to examine the cost to the government, all costs are taken from the Government perspective and are in 2020 Australian dollars. ResultsThe current estimated annual cost per offence is $977 (SD: $293). Policy 2 costs $507 per offence per year (SD: $106). Policy 3 turns into a net revenue gain of $225 (SD: $68) per offence per annum. Policy 4 lifts the current cost of processing from $977 to $1282 per offence per year (SD: $321). ConclusionsExtending the cannabis cautioning scheme to all drugs would reduce the cost of current policy by more than 50 %. A policy of issuing infringement notices or cautions for drug use/possession would save costs and generate income for the government.

An analysis of the effect of social norms on payment of speeding fines

ABSTRACT Fines are the most common form of formal speed limit enforcement applied in jurisdictions across the world. From a deterrence perspective, fines deter speeding through high risk of detection and swift enforcement of financial penalties. Yet, evidence on factors associated with fine payment compliance is limited. In this study, we consider the extent to which elements of deterrence and social behavioural norms influence the dynamics of speeding fine payment. We merge lifetime driving and fine payment records from over 10,000 drivers who received a speeding infringement notice during a one-week period in 2017 across communities in Queensland, Australia with community level socio-demographic data. We combine these data with our indicator of community level fine payment norms; the proportion of residents with an outstanding fine debt and conduct survival analysis to estimate the impact of social norms on days taken to pay speeding fines after controlling for community wealth and driving history. We find that individuals living in communities where a greater proportion of residents have outstanding fine debt take longer to pay fines after controlling for community disadvantage and social disorganisation. Our findings support the social norms perspective that speeding fine compliance is enhanced by normative community behaviours.

The Effectiveness of Anti-Money Laundering / Counter Financing of Terrorism Requirements in Fund Management Companies

Anti-Money Laundering / Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) broadly encompasses regulatory requirements, acts and guidelines designed to curtail the practice of generating funds through unlawful or criminal activities. Several infringement notices were issued to market intermediaries due to provision breaches of the guidelines. Although policies and procedures have been tightened up to the level of satisfaction, assessing the effectiveness of AML/CFT legislation is still necessary. The main aim of the study is to examine the independent variables, namely competency level of compliance team members, regulatory compliance and quality of AML/CFT framework that influence the effectiveness of AML/CFTrequirements of the compliance officers that are working in FMCs in Malaysia. The Expectancy Theory has been applied to form the framework and to develop the hypotheses. Three hypotheses were developed and tested using the data from 70 samples of FMC's in Malaysia. The result of the study showed that there were significant relationships between the factors analysed in this study. This study will help the financial institutions especially the Fund Management Companies (FMCs) in understanding the factors that influence the effectiveness of AML/CFT requirements and taking necessary action to enhance their internal AML/CFT process and its compliance with the regulations. This would help the FMCs to have effective control of AML/CFT during the on-boarding and ongoing monitoring process.

Traffic offending and deterrence: An examination of recidivism amongst drivers in Victoria, Australia born prior to 1975.

To deter the performance of illegal driving behaviours, traffic infringement notices may be issued. Whilst there is a substantial body of research that has examined rates of reoffending following a traffic infringement, there have been few studies examining the length of time to next traffic offence. Where this research has been conducted, the findings do not provide current understandings, given the substantial changes in traffic sanctioning over time. The aim of this study was to address this gap, by examining risk factors for recidivism following a driver receiving a traffic infringement notice, as well as the time to next traffic offence. Licensing and infringements data held in the Driver Licensing System (DLS), maintained by the road authority in Victoria, Australia were used. All drivers included in the study were born prior to 1975, and received their first Victorian drivers licence between 1994 and 2016. Data from 203,620 drivers were used. Cox proportional hazards modelling was undertaken to examine factors associated with recidivism within 12 months of receiving a traffic infringement. 131,691 (64.7%) drivers had received at least one traffic infringement in Victoria, Australia since receiving their Victorian driver’s licence. Factors found to be associated with longer time to further traffic offending in the year that followed the first infringement included being female; receiving a first Victorian driver’s licence when aged 45+ years; and being licenced 10+ years. Traffic infringements deter some groups of Victorian drivers, but not others. If drivers are to be deterred from further illegal driving behaviour, it is important other countermeasures are developed and trialled.

A trial of Criminal Infringement Notices as an alternative to criminal penalties for illicit drug offences in New South Wales, Australia: Estimated savings.

In 2019, legislation was introduced allowing New South Wales police to issue Criminal Infringement Notices (CIN) instead of criminal charges for prohibited drug possession offences, excluding cannabis leaf. This initiative was trialled across NSW music festivals from 25 January to 1 August 2019. This paper aims to examine the number of CINs administered and to estimate the associated (actual and potential) savings. Data were obtained from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (Recorded Crime Statistics, Reoffending Database). To estimate the monetary savings associated with administering CINs for drug possession offences, as opposed to processing them through the criminal justice system, data were obtained from the 2020 Report on Government Services. From January to June 2019, 300 CINs were issued for illicit drug possession (mostly for ecstasy possession; n = 256), resulting in an estimated saving to the criminal justice system of 194 400 AUD (or 314 400, if generated revenue included). We estimate that issuing CINs for all illicit drug possession offences would have provided savings of over 5 million AUD in that same six-month period, or approximately 1.7 million AUD if CINs were only issued to people with no prior convictions. Issuing CINs for illicit drug possession has the potential to yield substantial monetary savings. However, to avoid unintended consequences (e.g. disproportionate impact on disadvantaged populations), we would argue that police also be given the discretion to issue cautions for illicit drug possession offences.

The Effectiveness of Disclosure Law Enforcement in Australia

This article examines the empirical incidence of the private and public enforcement of disclosure laws in Australia. Disclosure laws aim to ensure the reduction of information asymmetries and the accuracy of share prices, but their success is predicated on enforcement. In order to assess the enforcement landscape, this article presents two new datasets comprising both private class actions and public enforcement for further examination. The analysis indicates that 41% of all Federal Court actions filed within the dataset included allegations relating to continuous disclosure failures. Further, regarding in-court actions, private enforcement predominates. This is consistent with theory, which suggests that coordination costs may be expected to affect the likelihood of private enforcement by shareholders. Regarding public enforcement, the action types predominantly consist of administrative sanctions as opposed to litigation. There were 22 actions initiated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) over the study period, which included civil and criminal penalties, infringement notices, and enforceable undertakings. This article additionally provides an outlook on enforcement since the judicial approval of litigation funders, which removed numerous procedural barriers to class actions. This allows for an analysis of the impact of these procedural changes, which occurred in parallel to ASIC resource decreases. Perhaps surprisingly, 100% of the cases in the dataset are supported by commercial litigation funding agreements. Moreover, the empirical analysis of settlement findings in the dataset indicates that the degree of investor loss coverage is tiny. Where settlement data and stock decline information is available, taking into account legal costs and litigation funder commissions, the mean net recovery amount is less than 4% of the market decline. This level of compensation can be compared with US figures, indicating a median settlement to investor loss coverage of 2.6% in 2017 and 2018. In light of the findings, this article addresses the question of whether the Australian system of enforcement is effective, by reference to whether the enforcement actions compensate, deter, and signal. The empirical analysis confirms the signalling function of enforcement, shows that there is likely to be a reasonable degree of deterrence where directors are targeted, however, that the compensation rationale is not met. This results in a moderately effective enforcement framework with notable room for improvement across both modalities of enforcement. Overall, the significance of both modalities of disclosure law enforcement implies that inferences about a system drawn solely from either public or private enforcement are likely to be misleading.

Commodifying Justice: Discursive Strategies Used in the Legitimation of Infringement Notices for Minor Offences

This article examines discursive strategies used by police and politicians to describe and justify the application of penalty notices to minor criminal offences. Critical discourse analysis is used as an analytical tool to show how neoliberal economic thinking has informed the prism through which infringement notices have been rationalised as a legitimate alternative to traditional criminal prosecution, while also highlighting the contradictions inherent in neoliberalism as an ideology through which to view the embrace of legally hybrid powers in the criminal justice system. Discursive strategies identified in the article include the use of ideological keywords ordinarily associated with free market economics and managerial efficiency; the adoption of militaristic vocabulary and metaphors in representations of policing and space; the strategies of assimilation and formulation to represent police views as uniform and coherent; and the use of nominalisations to legitimise the lack of procedural safeguards attached to infringement notices. The logic of—and the language ordinarily associated with—the domain of private business, the ‘free market’, and deregulation has infiltrated the criminal justice sphere. In addition, the naturalisation of neoliberal economic discourse in political and police representations of infringement notices produces and sustains important ideological effects, by disguising the ways in which the expanded use of administrative sanctions in public order policing intensifies state power at the expense of due process of law.

The Hidden Punitiveness of Fines

The fine is the most common penalty imposed by courts of summary jurisdiction in Australia, and fines imposed by way of penalty notice or infringement notice are a multiple of those imposed by the courts. The latter are being used for an increasing range of offences. This progressive ‘monetization of justice’ (O’Malley) and its effects have passed largely unnoticed. The enforcement of fines has, in most parts of Australia, been passed from the justice system to government revenue agencies with barely any public scrutiny or academic analysis. Sentencing councils, law reform commissions and audit and ombudsman offices have completed inquiries on fines, some of them wide-ranging and highly critical of existing arrangements. Yet, these inquiries arouse little public or media interest and, partly in consequence, there has been little political will to tackle fundamental problems as distinct from tinkering at the margins. After surveying the theoretical literature on the role of the fine, this paper considers the neglected question of fines enforcement. We present three case studies from different Australian jurisdictions to highlight issues associated with different models of enforcement. We show that fines enforcement produces very real, but often hidden, hardships for the most vulnerable. Despite its familiarity and apparent simplicity and transparency, the fine is a mode of punishment that hides complex penal and social realities and effects.
 

The Hidden Punitiveness of Fines

The fine is the most common penalty imposed by courts of summary jurisdiction in Australia, and fines imposed by way of penalty notice or infringement notice are a multiple of those imposed by the courts. The latter are being used for an increasing range of offences. This progressive ‘monetization of justice’ (O’Malley) and its effects have passed largely unnoticed. The enforcement of fines has, in most parts of Australia, been passed from the justice system to government revenue agencies with barely any public scrutiny or academic analysis. Sentencing councils, law reform commissions and audit and ombudsman offices have completed inquiries on fines, some of them wide-ranging and highly critical of existing arrangements. Yet, these inquiries arouse little public or media interest and, partly in consequence, there has been little political will to tackle fundamental problems as distinct from tinkering at the margins. After surveying the theoretical literature on the role of the fine, this paper considers the neglected question of fines enforcement. We present three case studies from different Australian jurisdictions to highlight issues associated with different models of enforcement. We show that fines enforcement produces very real, but often hidden, hardships for the most vulnerable. Despite its familiarity and apparent simplicity and transparency, the fine is a mode of punishment that hides complex penal and social realities and effects.
 

‘It's all about the Benjamins’: Infringement notices and young people in New South Wales

This article provides a brief analysis of the place, role and purpose of monetary penalties and their theoretical underpinnings. Against this critique of financial penalties and the revenue ('the Benjamins') 1 that flows from penalty infringement notices, the article examines the six-fold growth in penalty infringement notices 2 issued to children and young people in NSW between 1998 and 2013. It outlines the disproportionate impact of monetary penalties on them and the increasing displacement of diversionary options, raising questions about the appropriateness of issuing infringement notices to children and young people. This article also addresses positive developments in relation to children and young people, including the introduction of Work and Development Orders (WDOs) in NSW.

Paperless Arrests as Preventive Detention: Motion and Documentation in the Governance of Indigenous Peoples of Australia

The ‘paperless arrest’ scheme is a detention regime in which motion and documentation are central to crime control and community protection. This article interrogates paperlessness as a political fantasy for policing alongside the routine documentary practices of police administration, including their effects on the movement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Operative since 2014 in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT), the paperless arrest scheme provides police with the power to take an individual into custody for up to four hours if they believe, on reasonable grounds, that the individual has committed, or was about to commit, an infringement notice offence. This article frames paperless arrests as an instance of preventive detention continuous with the long-term regulation of alcohol consumption by Aboriginal people, in relation to racialised norms of public propriety in urban space. It considers preventive detention beyond issues of legality and efficacy, examining local and material relations that organise the everyday governance of preventive detention in Northern Australia.

Enforcement of ASIC's Market Integrity Rules: An Empirical Study

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has been responsible for the supervision of Australia’s licensed financial markets, such as the Australian Securities Exchange, since August 2010. As part of this responsibility, ASIC has developed market integrity rules (MIRs) with which market participants are obliged to comply. This article reports the results of an empirical study of the enforcement of the MIRs between 1 August 2010 and 30 June 2014. Although ASIC has available to it a range of enforcement options when it believes there has been a contravention of a MIR, our research finds that enforcement of the MIRs has been undertaken solely by means of infringement notices. We therefore examine all infringement notices issued in the relevant period, investigating matters such as the issuance of infringement notices over time; the recipient of the infringement notice; the MIR allegedly breached; the quantum of the penalty and how the quantum of the penalty compares to the maximum penalty available; how long the matter took; details of the alleged breach; whether the entity self-reported the breach; other remedial measures; and relevant factors taken into consideration in making the decision to issue an infringement notice. We compare our findings with the stated objectives of the infringement notice regime as it applies to the MIRs and locate our findings in the broader literature documenting the growth in the use of infringement notices by regulators.

Notices, enforcement and the making of the Hong Kong competition ordinance

Created by the Hong Kong competition ordinance 2012 (Ordinance), the infringement notice and the warning notice are novel tools of competition law enforcement. Their use, however, involves serious tradeoffs. On the one hand, the notices promote a speedier, more flexible and cheaper resolution of investigations in competition law cases. On the other hand, they may curtail deterrent effects while injecting greater discretion and uncertainty into the enforcement process. This article investigates the extent to which such tradeoffs were identified and weighed by the designers of the notices in the lawmaking process. Written records of the legislative debates on the Ordinance were collected and their content analysed systematically. The findings suggest that although the participating actors largely agreed upon and fluently articulated the benefits of the notices, they either ignored or neglected their potential risks. The development of competitive markets in Hong Kong requires that those risks be well understood and managed.

Exposing the Injustice of Imprisonment for Fine Default

This article considers the ramifications of the case of Vic Police Toll Enforcement and Ors v Taha and Ors; State of Victoria v Brookes and Anor [2013] VSCA 37 (an appeal from the decision of Emerton J in Taha v Broadmeadows Magistrates Court and Ors; Brookes v Magistrates' Court of Victoria and Anor [2011] VSC 642 ('Taha')) on the operation of the infringement notice system in Victoria. It builds on a previous Alternative Law Journal article, and the authors' qualitative research related to the increasing use of the infringement notice system or 'on-the-spot' fines to penalise minor criminal behaviour. The focus is on the imprisonment in lieu orders permissible under section 160 of the Infringements Act 2006 (Vic) ('the Act'). The authors hope that the Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal decision in Taha will restore the human rights balance to the infringements legislation so that it conforms with the spirit of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities 2006 Act (Vic) ('the Charter'), hasten the commencement of the amendments to s 160 (envisaged by the Sentencing Amendment (Abolition of Suspended Sentences and Other Matters) Act 2013 (Vic)), and ensure that our community's most vulnerable members are not unnecessarily imprisoned for fine default. The authors suggest that this case and its aftermath demonstrate how both academic research and the persistence of community-based lawyers and legal aid agencies can drive changes to the law and promote just outcomes for the more disadvantaged in our society.

‘I'm sorry but you're just not that special…’ Reflecting on the ‘Special Circumstances’ Provisions of the Infringements Act 2006 (Vic)

Infringement notices are used extensively in all Australian jurisdictions as an expedient way to address many incidences of minor law breaking. Recipients may pay a fixed penalty, rather than proceeding to court, reducing the burden on Magistrates' Courts and police resources. Fixed penalties are applied to specific offences, irrespective of aggravating or mitigating circumstances (O'Malley 2010), and these are typically considerably less than court-imposed fines. However, the expansion and ubiquity of the infringements system has resulted in an increasing number of marginalised individuals coming into contact with the criminal justice system. Certain groups of people, characterised by their vulnerability and multi-level disadvantage (such as homelessness, mental illness, intellectual disability or substance abuse), are disproportionately and adversely affected by this system. Indeed, it entrenches and compounds existing disadvantage in several ways — a topic this article will discuss. Drawing on interviews with 95 stakeholders** involved in the Victorian infringements system, we will outline some of the most problematic aspects of the operation of the Infringements Act 2006 (Vic), critically discuss what has already been undertaken to alleviate the situation for individuals characterised by so-called ‘special circumstances’, and propose amendments to the system which might also serve as a guide for other Australian jurisdictions facing similar challenges.

Access to cigarettes by young New Zealand smokers: little change from 2000 to 2008

To examine trends in young New Zealanders' access to cigarettes from 2002 to 2008. Self-reports of young smokers' commercial sources of cigarettes, requests for proof of age and being refused a sale, and the amount spent on cigarettes, were analysed from the 2002 and 2004 Youth Lifestyles Surveys and 2006 and 2008 Year 10 In-depth Surveys of 14 to 15 year olds in New Zealand (NZ). Most young smokers obtain cigarettes through non-commercial sources; however, one-third bought their cigarettes from shops in 2008, with no evidence of a change in proportions purchasing from major retail outlets since 2000. Few young smokers were asked to show proof of age when purchasing cigarettes, with no evidence over time of more young smokers being asked for proof of age, but reports of being refused the sale of cigarettes decreased from 2000. Participants reporting being asked for proof of age had nearly six times the odds of being refused sale. The amount spent on cigarettes did not change over the study period. Many young smokers continue to purchase cigarettes from commercial outlets, with no evidence of change in purchasing from major outlets such as dairies, service stations, supermarkets or liquor stores since 2000. The fact that few young smokers reported being asked to show proof of age suggests the need for stronger measures to ensure that retailers comply with New Zealand legislation regarding under-age sales of tobacco. With an infringement notice scheme being implemented and tobacco price rises, there may be an increase in accessing cigarettes through social sources. It remains important to monitor commercial tobacco sales to young people to determine the efficacy of policy change.

The Use of Infringement Notices by ASIC for Alleged Continuous Disclosure Contraventions: Trends and Analysis

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has several enforcement options available to it where a company breaches its continuous disclosure obligations by not promptly disclosing price sensitive information. The most recent enforcement option made available to ASIC is the use of infringement notices. Infringement notices are designed to be used for less serious contraventions of continuous disclosure obligations. ASIC can issue an infringement notice where it believes a company has not complied with its continuous disclosure obligations. The notice specifies a financial penalty to be paid by the company and the company can choose to comply with the notice by paying the penalty or the company can choose not to comply in which case ASIC may take other enforcement action. This paper reports the results of the first detailed empirical study of ASIC’s use of infringement notices since they were introduced in 2004. One of the findings is that although infringement notices were introduced on the basis they would be a fast remedy, this objective has not been achieved. On average, ASIC takes almost 250 days from the time of an alleged contravention to the issuance of an infringement notice. The authors also compare ASIC’s use of infringement notices with other enforcement measures available to ASIC for breach of continuous disclosure obligations. These measures include enforceable undertakings, civil penalty proceedings and criminal penalty proceedings.

Driving errors influence an older drivers decision to give up or restrict driving

PurposeExplore driving errors in older drivers and the subsequent decision to restrict or stop driving.Methods1425 drivers aged 67–87, enrolled in a longitudinal study completed 5-day naturalistic driving assessment. Rate of...

Copyright Infringement Notices Scheme: A Submission to the Attorney-General's Department

At the end of 2006, the Australian Federal Government passed the Copyright Amendment Act 2006 (Cth), containing a number of new, lower-level criminal provisions aimed at creating greater enforcement of criminal copyright activities. This paper is a response to draft Guidelines issued by the Attorney-General's Department aimed at assisting law enforcement officers in the implementation of the infringement notices and forfeiture of infringing copies and devices scheme. The paper cites areas of the guidelines where more detail is required and suggests methods for improvement. It also explores other considerations the Attorney-General's Department should to take into account for the infringement notice scheme to operate fairly and effectively.