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Originally Posted by Bossxr8
That can't be right. If that was the case, no one would want to challenge a dodgy fine. It's everybodies right to be able to prove their innocence in court, not be punished for doing it.
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Well if it's a dodgy fine and you prove your innocence you wouldn't be found guilty and convicted.
I elected court to plead leniency for a minor traffic infringement in NSW a few years ago and recall there was a lot of debate about whether convictions end up on your criminal record. I managed to get the section 10 dismissal which is a mechanism by which you are found guilty (i.e. you aren't claiming you didn't break the law), but they don't record a conviction - it also doesn't affect your driving record, with the section 10 recorded in lieu of losing demerit points.
In my research at the time it was the opinion of many that any conviction handed down by a court goes on your record. Serious traffic infringements like drink driving and high speed go on your criminal record as you get a court attendance notice instead of a penalty notice, so you're being convicted by a court. The information available on the various government websites isn't 100% clear. For example, the NSW govt lawaccess site states the following:
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Before you elect to go to court you should consider the following:- if you go to court, you may be convicted of an offence and that conviction may be recorded on your criminal record.
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There's also a specific section on driving and criminal records on that website that states "your criminal record includes a list of all serious traffic offences and other offences that you have been found guilty and convicted of in court". Yet it also has a line stating "where the conviction is recorded depends on the seriousness the offence". I think a lot of these fact sheets are mainly to reassure people that getting a traffic/parking infringement notice in general will not end up on your criminal record. But elevating the matter to be decided in a court might change the game entirely.
Armstrong Legal who seem to specialise in traffic cases state the following on their website:
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Normally, when you plead guilty to a criminal or traffic offence, the court imposes a penalty and records a conviction. If the court records a conviction you will have a criminal record.
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Again, not a lawyer and I'd be interested if anyone has a certain answer, there have been a lot of arguments on other forums like whirlpool on this topic. I contested my fine assuming a risk of being convicted and potentially having a record (whether that's true or not), but given the circumstances I was fairly certain I'd be given a section 10 with no conviction and that did end up being the case.
In the case of the
OP, it might be prudent to call a lawyer first to be sure.