17Power of court to order disqualification

### 17 Power of court to order disqualification > > (1)  [*\[Section 17 Subsection (1) amended by No. 10 of 2008, s. 6, Applied:25 Aug 2008\]*](/view/html/inforce/2008-08-25/act-2008-010#GS6@EN) [*\[Section 17 Subsection (1) substituted by No. 69 of 2001, s. 7, Applied:10 Dec 2001\]*](/view/html/inforce/2001-12-10/act-2001-069#GS7@Hpa@EN) Subject to [sections 19B](#GS19B@EN) and [19E](#GS19E@EN) , a court that convicts a person of a traffic offence may disqualify the person from driving for a period specified by the court. > > > (2)  Subject to [subsection (3)](#GS17@Gs3@EN) , if a disqualification is imposed under this or any other Act against the holder of an Australian driver licence, the court must either suspend or cancel the licence as follows: > > > > > > (a) [*\[Section 17 Subsection (2) amended by No. 69 of 2001, s. 7, Applied:10 Dec 2001\]*](/view/html/inforce/2001-12-10/act-2001-069#GS7@Hpb@EN) if the disqualification is for 4 months or less, the licence is to be suspended; > > > > > > > (b) [*\[Section 17 Subsection (2) amended by No. 69 of 2001, s. 7, Applied:10 Dec 2001\]*](/view/html/inforce/2001-12-10/act-2001-069#GS7@Hpc@EN) if the disqualification is for more than 4 months, the licence is to be cancelled. > > > (3)  The court may, instead of cancelling a licence that is liable to cancellation under [subsection (2)](#GS17@Gs2@EN) , suspend the licence if the court thinks there is good reason to do so. > > > (4)  A disqualification imposed by a court under this or any other Act, and a related licence suspension or cancellation imposed by the court, takes effect as follows: > > > > > > (a) if the convicted person is not subject to a current period of disqualification, licence suspension or ineligibility to hold a driver licence as a result of the accumulation of demerit points – at the time of the order or a later time fixed by the court; > > > > > > > (b) if the convicted person is subject to a current period of disqualification, licence suspension or ineligibility to hold a driver licence as a result of the accumulation of demerit points – at the end of that period unless the court fixes an earlier or later time. > > > (5)  If a disqualification is imposed under this or any other Act on a person who is not present in court when the disqualification is imposed, the court must postpone the commencement of the disqualification (and the related licence suspension or cancellation) for a specified period of at least 10 days and, in that event, the disqualification (and the related licence suspension or cancellation) commences – > > > > > > (a) at the end of that period; or > > > > > > > (b) [*\[Section 17 Subsection (5) amended by No. 69 of 2001, s. 7, Applied:10 Dec 2001\]*](/view/html/inforce/2001-12-10/act-2001-069#GS7@Hpd@EN) if the person against whom the disqualification is imposed submits to the disqualification on an earlier day by returning the licence to the Registrar, on that earlier day. > > > (6)  The court's powers under this section are in addition to other powers the court may have to punish or deal with the convicted person in other ways.