Being a suspected defendant in an apprehended violence order who fails or refuses to disclose identity to a police officer is an offence under section 13B of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities Act 2002 that carries a maximum penalty of a fine equivalent to two penalty units.
To establish the offence, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that:
Section 13A of the Act requires you to disclose your identity to a police officer if the your identity is not already known to the officer and the officer suspects on reasonable grounds that an interim, provisional or final apprehended violence order has been made against you.
You are not guilty of the offence if you establish, on the balance of probabilities, that you had a reasonable excuse for your conduct.
General legal defences to the offence include duress, necessity and self-defence.
If you are able to raise evidence of a general legal defence, the onus then shifts to the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defence does not apply to the circumstances of the case.
You are entitled to an acquittal if the prosecution is unable to do this.
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