218Period within which proceedings for offences may be commenced

218 Period within which proceedings for offences may be commenced

218 Period within which proceedings for offences may be commenced

(1) This section applies to an offence against this Law, other than—

(a) an offence prescribed by the national regulations for the purposes of this section; or

(b) an offence in respect of which proceedings may only be commenced within a period of less than 2 years after its alleged commission.

(2) Despite anything to the contrary in an Act, proceedings for an offence against this Law to which this section applies may be commenced within the latest of the following periods to occur—

(a) the period of 2 years after commission of the alleged offence;

(b) if evidence of an alleged offence comes to light as a result of an inquiry by a prescribed authority—within 1 year after the report of the inquiry is published;

(c) if a rail safety undertaking has been given in relation to the offence—within 6 months after—

(i) the undertaking is contravened; or

(ii) it comes to the notice of the Regulator that the undertaking has been contravened; or

(iii) the Regulator has agreed under section 256 to the withdrawal of the undertaking.

(3) A proceeding for a Category 1 offence may be brought after the end of the applicable limitation period in subsection (2) if fresh evidence relevant to the offence is discovered and the court is satisfied that the evidence could not reasonably have been discovered within the relevant limitation period.

(4) In this section—

prescribed authority means—

(a) a coroner of a participating jurisdiction; or

(b) a commission of inquiry (by whatever name) established under a law of a participating jurisdiction; or

(c) any other relevant authority established under a law of a participating jurisdiction.

s 218: Am 2016 No 31, sec 10; 2023 No 41, Sch 2.29.