Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES ACT 2004 - SECT 47

    (1)     This section applies if, in a prosecution for an offence for a failure to comply with a safety duty, the trier of fact—

        (a)     is not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the offence; but

        (b)     is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of an alternative offence.

    (2)     The trier of fact may find the defendant guilty of the alternative offence, but only if the defendant has been given procedural fairness in relation to the finding of guilt.

    (3)     In this section:

"alternative offence", for an offence mentioned in table 47, column 2, means an offence mentioned in column 3 for the offence.

Table 47     Alternative verdicts

column 1 item	column 2 prosecuted offence	column 3 alternative offence
1	section 42 (which is about failing to comply with a safety duty)	section 63 (Failure to comply with conditions of licence)
2	section 43 (which is about exposing a person to substantial risk of death or serious harm)	section 42 section 63
3	section 44 (which is about causing death or serious harm to a person)	section 42 section 43 section 63
4	section 45 (which is about exposing property or the environment to substantial risk of substantial damage)	section 42 section 63
5	section 46 (which is about causing substantial damage to property or the environment)	section 42 section 45 section 63

Note     Chapter 6 provides compliance measures for contraventions of the Act.