Going to court for a fine

Penalty Notices

An on-the-spot fine, is often issued for parking or minor traffic offences, and in some cases, low level drug offences. 

In relation to penalty notices, you may consider the following:

• pay the fine in full by the due date 
  
• ask Revenue NSW for a review of the fine if there are special or extenuating circumstances
• if your penalty notice relates to a low level drug offence, you may be eligible for the early drug diversion initiative
• elect to have the matter heard in a local court.

Electing to go to court

It is important to think about court election carefully as once your court election is accepted, you cannot change your mind. Please consider the following before electing to come to court:

• Going to Court can be a long and costly process. 
  
• The Court may issue you a fine at a higher amount than the penalty notice.
• You may have to pay legislated court costs and/or legislated victim services levy.
• For some traffic offences, you could receive a criminal conviction or a licence disqualification. Please note, the court plays no role in demerit points. For more information, please see Information for court traffic matters (PDF, 81.6 KB).

You can obtain legal information and advice on election through the following links:

• Go to Court on the Legal Aid website.
• Are you having problems with fines? - Follow this link and navigate to the brochure from Legal Aid.

If you have received a fine from Revenue NSW and you have elected to have the matter heard by a court, Revenue NSW will issue a court attendance notice (CAN) giving you a date to attend court. Once this notice has been issued, it cannot be withdrawn.