Registrar of Motor Vehicles v Vu

The Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia heard an appeal concerning the validity of disqualification notices issued by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. The dispute centred on whether the Registrar's failure to issue these notices "with all convenient speed," as required by the *Motor Vehicles Act 1959* (SA), rendered the notices invalid. The respondents argued that the delay in issuing the notices meant they were ineffective.

The court was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, when the Registrar's statutory duty to issue disqualification notices arises under sections 81D(2) and 98BE(2a) of the *Motor Vehicles Act 1959* (SA). Secondly, whether a failure by the Registrar to comply with the obligation to act "with all convenient speed" in issuing these notices would result in the invalidity of the notices themselves.

The Full Court, comprising Kourakis CJ, Anderson and Stanley JJ, allowed the appeal. While agreeing with the primary judge that the Registrar had failed to issue the notices with all convenient speed, the majority of the court disagreed with the conclusion that this failure led to invalidity. The court reasoned that Parliament did not intend for invalidity to be the natural consequence of such a breach. They found that the statutory language and context did not support a construction where a delay in issuing the notices would vitiate them. The court also considered that the duty to issue the notices arose as soon as the relevant demerit points were incurred or the conviction recorded, rather than upon the Registrar becoming aware of the circumstances, but this did not alter the conclusion regarding invalidity. The appeal was allowed, and the respondents' actions were dismissed.