White -v- The Commissioner of Police [2000] NSWADT 9

CITATION: White -v- The Commissioner of Police [2000] NSWADT 9 DIVISION: General Division APPLICANT PARTIES: Matthew Peter White RESPONDENT Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Service FILE NUMBER: 003004 HEARING DATES: 10/01/2000 SUBMISSIONS CLOSED: 01/10/2000 DATE OF DECISION: 01/10/2000

BEFORE: Hennessy N (Deputy President) APPLICATION: Road Transport (General) Act - driver's licence suspension - Driver's licence suspension MATTER FOR DECISION: Principal matter LEGISLATION CITED : Road Transport (General) Act 1999 CASES CITED: APPLICANT REPRESENTATION: P Stitz, barrister RESPONDENT G Doherty, solicitor, Legal Services Branch, NSW Police Service ORDERS: 1. The Tribunal affirms the decision to suspend the applicant's licence,

Delivered Ex-Tempore 1 This is an application under section 48 of the Road Transport (General) Act 1999. Section 48(1) allows a person aggrieved by a decision of a police officer under to suspend the person's driver's licence to apply to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal for a review of that decision. When making a decision the Tribunal is not to vary or set aside the police officer's decision unless it is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances justifying such a decision. In particular, the Tribunal cannot take into account the circumstances of the offence with which the person is charged (s48(3) Road Transport (General) Act 1999).

2 Section 34(1) of the Road Transport Act states that:

"If a person is charged by a police officer with an offence under section 9(3) or (4), 15(4), 16 or 22(2) of the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999, the same or another police officer may, at any time within 48 hours after the person has been charged, give the person a suspension notice."