52Time within which summary proceedings may be commenced

52 Time within which summary proceedings may be commenced

52 Time within which summary proceedings may be commenced

(1) Proceedings for an offence under this Act or the regulations may be commenced—

(a) for a prescribed offence—within but not later than 3 years after the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed, or

(b) otherwise—within but not later than 2 years after the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed.

(2) Proceedings for an offence under this Act or the regulations may also be commenced—

(a) for a prescribed offence—within but not later than 3 years after the date on which evidence of the alleged offence first came to the attention of an authorised officer, or

(b) otherwise—within but not later than 2 years after the date on which evidence of the alleged offence first came to the attention of an authorised officer.

(3) If subsection (2) is relied on, the court attendance notice or summons—

(a) must contain particulars of the date on which evidence of the offence first came to the attention of an authorised officer, and

(b) is not required to contain particulars of the date on which the offence was committed.

(4) The date on which evidence first came to the attention of an authorised officer is the date specified in the court attendance notice or summons unless another date is established.

(5) This section applies only to proceedings to be dealt with summarily.

(6) This section applies despite anything in the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 or another Act.

(7) In this section—

authorised officer means a person who is an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act, whether or not the person has the functions of an authorised officer in connection with the relevant offence.

evidence of an offence means evidence of an act or omission constituting the offence.

prescribed offence means an offence arising under Part 3.