Your liability as an executive officer under the HVNL– where does it start and end?

Executive officers (EOs), which include company directors, are exposed to criminal liability if their company is found guilty of a breach of its obligations under Chain of Responsibility (CoR) laws. Here we examine when this liability would apply.

There are two strands to that liability:

1. Under s 636(1) of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), an EO will be liable if he or she "knowingly authorised or permitted" the conduct.
2. Under s 636(2), an EO will be liable if he or she knew or ought reasonably to have known of the conduct, or that there was substantial risk that the offence would have been committed.

Section 636(3) provides that it is a defence under s 636(2) that the EO exercised 'reasonable diligence' to comply with the provision, or was not in a position to influence the conduct of the corporation in relation to the offence.