The validity of more than $ 56 million in COVID-19-related fines issued by NSW police could be challenged through possible class action.
The Redfern Legal Center has so far filed three lawsuits in the NSW Supreme Court seeking to overturn what they say were vague and nonspecific infringement notices issued for alleged breaches of public health orders during the blockades.
One such lawsuit, filed by Sydney man Rohan Pank, who was fined for sitting in a park with his partner in August 2021, has since been withdrawn with Revenue NSW canceling it. lar the $ 1,000 fine.
“For most of the clients seen by (Redfern Legal Center), we consider that they did not violate the law, but that the law was applied incorrectly and the internal fine review system offered little or no recourse,” the lead attorney Samantha. said Lee.
While the other two cases with a $ 1,000 fine and a $ 3,000 fine are still ongoing, Ms. Lee told the AAP that there could be more lawsuits, including a class action lawsuit.
“We do not rule out anything. We are studying all possibilities to seek some form of justice for those who have received poorly worded and erroneously issued fines, especially the more than 3,000 children who have been fined,” he said.
Ms Lee said there had been more than 62,000 fines for COVID-19 issued in NSW totaling nearly $ 56.5 million, most of which were unpaid.
He argued that the sanction notices were invalid because they did not have enough details about the alleged crime.
“The information provided about the fine was often so vague that those who were fined did not know where to start to request a review of the fine,” he said.
The lawyer said that because most of these infringement warnings were issued to people from lower socioeconomic areas or First Nations communities, the impact of these sanctions could be devastating with unpaid fines leading to to serious financial results.
To invalidate the tens of thousands of notices issued, the remaining two cases would have to result in a firm court ruling. This will not happen if Revenue NSW simply decides to withdraw the fines and the claims are dismissed.