Commentary on Sections and Schedules Section 1: Suspension of registration
13.Subsection (1) inserts new section 128ZA into the RTA to enable the Registrar to suspend a person’s registration to give driving instruction where the Registrar believes that person to present a significant threat to the safety of members of the public. The suspension must be associated with proceedings leading to, or potentially leading to, either the termination of the person’s registration or the refusal of the person’s application to extend their registration. The notice may therefore be given only if the Registrar is considering either terminating that registration or refusing an application to extend that registration, or if the Registrar has already decided so to terminate or refuse. The notice of suspension may only be given together with, or subsequent to, the notice that the Registrar is either minded to terminate the person’s registration or to refuse the ADI’s application to extend their registration.
14.Subsections (2) and (3) of the new section 128ZA provide for written notice to be given of the suspension and for the suspension to take effect on the giving of the notice.
15.Under subsection (4) of the new section 128ZA, notice of suspension cannot be given unless notice has already been given that the Registrar is considering either termination of the person’s registration or refusal of the person’s application to extend their registration, but the two notices may be given at the same time.
16.Subsection (5) of the new section 128ZA sets out the circumstances in which a suspension imposed by the Registrar is terminated. For example, the suspension will automatically end if the Registrar fails to make a decision on whether to terminate the person’s registration or refuse their application to extend their registration within 75 days of the Registrar giving notice of being minded so to terminate or refuse.
17.Subsection (6) of the new section 128ZA requires the Registrar to inform the affected person of the termination of a suspension in writing as soon as practicable.
18.Under subsection (7) of the new section 128ZA a person remains registered during the period of suspension and that person is therefore treated as a registered person for the purposes of Part V of the RTA.
19.Subsection (2) of section 1 of the Act amends section 123(1) of the RTA to impose an additional requirement upon persons giving paid driving instruction, or carrying on business in the provision of paid driving instruction, so that not only must they be registered but their registration must not be suspended. It is an offence to give instruction in contravention of section 123(1) (see section 123A(1) RTA).
20.Subsection (3) amends section 123A(3) of the RTA so as to provide for a defence in proceedings where the person providing driving instruction, their employer, or franchiser, did not know and had no reasonable cause to believe that the registration of the person giving instruction was suspended.
21.Subsection (4) is a consequential amendment to section 142 of the RTA.
22.Subsection (5) is a consequential amendment to section 18(1) of Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.