48Groundless threats of legal proceedings

48 Groundless threats of legal proceedings

(1) If SOCOG, SPOC or a licensed user threatens to make an application, or bring an action, against a person (the threatened person) on the ground that the threatened person has engaged, is engaging, or is proposing to engage in conduct in contravention of section 12, any person aggrieved by the threat may bring an action in a prescribed court against SOCOG, SPOC or the licensed user (as the case may be). (2) In an action under subsection (1), the court may:

(a) make a declaration that SOCOG, SPOC or the licensed user had no grounds for making the threat; and

(b) grant an injunction restraining SOCOG, SPOC or the licensed user from continuing to make the threat.

The court may also award damages for loss that the person aggrieved has suffered as a result of the making of the threat. (3) An action may not be brought under this section if the person who made the threat has made an application, or brought an action, under Division 3 against the threatened person in relation to the act, or proposed act, to which the threat related. (4) An action under this section may not be continued if the person who made the threat makes an application, or brings an action, under Division 3 against the threatened person in relation to the act, or proposed act, to which the threat related. (5) It is a defence to an action under subsection (1) that the conduct of the threatened person, in relation to which the threat was made, constitutes a contravention of section 12.