453Designated tribunal may order payment of pecuniary penalty

453 Designated tribunal may order payment of pecuniary penalty

453 Designated tribunal may order payment of pecuniary penalty

(1) Within 6 years of a person (the wrongdoer) contravening a civil penalty provision, the designated local regulatory authority may apply to the designated tribunal for an order that the wrongdoer pay a pecuniary penalty.

(2) If the designated tribunal is satisfied that the wrongdoer has contravened a civil penalty provision, the tribunal may order the wrongdoer to pay for each contravention the pecuniary penalty that the tribunal determines is appropriate (but not more than the relevant amount specified for the provision).

(3) In determining the pecuniary penalty, the designated tribunal must have regard to all relevant matters, including—

(a) the nature and extent of the contravention; and

(b) the nature and extent of any loss or damage suffered as a result of the contravention; and

(c) the circumstances in which the contravention took place; and

(d) whether the person has previously been found by a court or tribunal to have engaged in any similar conduct.

(4) If conduct constitutes a contravention of 2 or more civil penalty provisions, proceedings may be instituted under this Law against a person in relation to the contravention of any one or more of those provisions. However, the person is not liable to more than one pecuniary penalty under this section in respect of the same conduct.

(5) Proceedings for a pecuniary penalty order are civil proceedings, and the rules of procedure apply accordingly.

(6) It is intended that jurisdictional legislation may determine whether the designated tribunal is bound by the rules of evidence in conducting a hearing in relation to proceedings for a pecuniary penalty order, but the designated tribunal is otherwise not bound by those rules in relation to those proceedings.