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Re Wilson [2020] NZDC 9474

Published 14 December 2021

Application for review of registrar's decision — fines — identity of vehicle owner — mistaken identity — Summary Proceedings Act 1957, ss 78B & 106F. The applicant applied to review a decision of a Registrar. In the previous decision the applicant had disputed a number of fines that she faced, but the Registrar declined to withdraw any of them, finding that the applicant was the owner of the vehicle to which the fines related. The applicant denied that she was the owner of the vehicle, arguing that she had actually sold it some years before. The Court found that the fines in fact related to two different vehicles, one of which the defendant had never owned. The Court attributed these fines to a case of mistaken identity, and ordered that they be remitted. The Court accepted that the defendant had sold the other vehicle, but nevertheless she was still the registered owner at the time that the fines were accumulated. Therefore she was liable for fines amounting to $4192.24. Judgment date: 27 May 2020.