Request a court hearing
In some circumstances, you may want to request a court hearing. Only the person served with the ticket can do this.
On this page
If you’ve already paid your infringement fee, even just in part, you cannot request a court hearing.
Once you request a court hearing, you cannot change your mind and ask to pay the infringement fee instead.
Why go to court
You might want to ask for a court hearing if:
- you have ongoing financial hardship
- you don’t believe you did anything wrong.
No conviction will be entered on your record if you choose to go to court.
Types of court hearing requests
When applying for a court hearing, you can request either 'Admit liability' (guilty) or 'Deny liability' (not guilty).
Note that even if you choose not guilty in your court hearing request, you can change your mind and plead 'guilty' when you come to court.
Admit liability
This is the best option if you accept you committed the offence, but you want the court to consider the fine amount.
You will not be asked to appear in court.
Instead, the court will read about your case from the information provided by both AT and yourself.
The court will decide the amount of your fine. They might lower the fine, but they might not, especially if you don’t provide supporting information.
The court will send you a letter to tell you what fine you need to pay. You will also have to pay mandatory court costs.
This process could take a month or two.
Deny liability
This is the best option if you don’t believe you did anything wrong.
You will need to appear in court, usually more than once. At your first hearing you will be asked to enter a plea. You can plead guilty or not guilty.
If you plead not guilty a date will be set for your trial, and you will need to return to court on that date. That is when the witnesses will give evidence and the court will make a decision.
If you are found guilty, the court will decide what fine you should pay – this may be more or less than the infringement fee. You will also have to pay mandatory court costs.
This process can take a few months to a year to complete.
How to request a court hearing (3 steps)
Check that you qualify
To request a court hearing, you must be either:
- the person served with the infringement notice
- an authorised representative of the company the infringement notice is served on.
If the infringement fee has been paid, even in part, you cannot request a court hearing.
Download and complete the court hearing request form
Fill in your details and select either admit liability or deny liability.
If you admit liability, you need to attach all the information you want the court to consider. This should include proof of why you can’t afford to pay your fine. AT sends this information to the court for you when it lodges your request.
Send it to us
You can submit your court hearing request online or by post.
Online: fill out our online form and attach your court hearing request form as a supporting document.
By post: send your court hearing request form to Auckland Transport, Private Bag 92260, Auckland 1142.
We will process your court hearing request and send you a letter to outline the next steps.
What happens next
Once we send your request to the court, you can no longer pay your infringement fee. There is nothing for you to pay until the court has heard and determined the charge.
If you plead guilty or are found guilty, the court will decide what fine you should pay and will also impose mandatory court costs.
Your fine and court costs are payable to the court, not Auckland Transport.
The cost of going to court
AT does not add any extra fees if you request a court hearing, however the court will add court costs if you plead guilty or are found guilty.
The court hearing timeline
The timeline for having your matter heard by the court depends on the type of hearing requested.
If you admit liability and are only asking the court to decide on the amount of your fine, the court will usually notify you of the result within a month or two.
If you deny liability and seek a full hearing of your case, this could take up to 12 months in total. Your first court date will usually be within a couple of months, at which time you’ll be asked to enter a plea. If you plead not guilty a date will be set for your trial. Your trial date could be many months away, depending on the workload of the relevant court.
Long-term impact
No conviction is entered on your record, even if you are found guilty.
If you plead guilty or are found guilty, court costs will be imposed in addition to any fine.
If you do not pay your court fine or enter into an arrangement to pay, there could be serious consequences from the Ministry of Justice.