This Act may be cited as the Bylaws Act 1910, and shall come into operation on 1 January 1911.

In this Act, unless a different intention appears from the context or subject matter,—

At any time before or after the coming into operation of any bylaw any person may by motion apply to the Supreme Court for an order quashing the bylaw, or any part thereof, on the ground that the bylaw or such part thereof is for any reason invalid, and if the court is of opinion that the same is invalid an order may be made quashing the same accordingly.

Notice of any such application to the Supreme Court, and of the grounds thereof, shall be given by the applicant to the local authority by which the bylaw was made, and that local authority shall be heard in support of the bylaw.

Every person making any such application to the Supreme Court shall, at the time of filing the notice of motion, pay into court the sum of £5 as security for the costs of the application.

The costs of any such application shall, as between the applicant and the local authority, whether the local authority appears in support of the bylaw or not, be in the discretion of the court, and the court may make an order accordingly.

On any such application the Supreme Court may by order, if it thinks fit, instead of quashing the bylaw or any part thereof, amend the same in such manner as the court thinks necessary in order to render valid the provisions thereof.

Any amendment so made shall take effect from the making thereof, as if it had been duly made by the local authority by which the bylaw was made, and as if all conditions of the validity and operation of such an amendment, if made by the local authority, had been duly fulfilled.

Any amendment so made may be repealed or amended by the local authority by which the bylaw was made in the same manner as if the amendment had been made by that local authority.

If any bylaw is quashed in part or amended under the provisions of this section, the local authority by which the bylaw was made shall give public notice thereof, and shall in any subsequent publication of the bylaw, or in any copy thereof subsequently issued under the seal of the local authority, set forth the bylaw in the form in which it stands after being so quashed in part or amended.

Every court, District Court Judge, Justice of the Peace, or Community Magistrate must take judicial notice of every order so made by the High Court quashing or amending a bylaw or any part thereof.

The quashing or amending of a bylaw under this section shall not affect any conviction, order, or judgment theretofore made or given, or any judicial proceedings then pending, in any court.

No bylaw shall be invalid because it requires anything to be done within a time or in a manner to be directed or approved in any particular case by the local authority making the bylaw, or by any officer or servant of the local authority, or by any other person, or because the bylaw leaves any matter or thing to be determined, applied, dispensed with, ordered, or prohibited from time to time in any particular case by the local authority making the bylaw, or by any officer or servant of the local authority, or by any other person.

This section shall not apply to any case in which the discretion so left by the bylaw to the local authority, or to any officer, servant, or other person, is so great as to be unreasonable.

No bylaw shall be invalid merely because it deals with a matter already dealt with by the laws of New Zealand, unless it is repugnant to the provisions of those laws.

No bylaw shall be invalid as being repugnant to the laws of New Zealand merely because it imposes in respect of any act or omission a penalty which is greater or smaller than, or different from, the penalty imposed by those laws for the same act or omission; but no greater penalty shall be inflicted upon a defendant than that fixed by statute law.

No bylaw shall be invalid because it extends and applies to a part or parts only of the district or region within the jurisdiction of the local authority making the same.

If any bylaw contains any provisions which are invalid because they are ultra vires of the local authority, or repugnant to the laws of New Zealand, or unreasonable, or for any other cause whatever, the bylaw shall be invalid to the extent of those provisions and any others which cannot be severed therefrom.

Nothing in any bylaw shall be deemed to relieve any person from any penalty, fine, punishment, action, or liability to which he or she would otherwise be subject in respect of anything done or omitted by him or her in breach of the bylaw.

All fines which by virtue of any bylaw are authorised or directed to be imposed on any person for a breach thereof may, when no other form or mode of procedure is prescribed by the Act under which the bylaw is made, be recovered on conviction in the manner provided by the Justices of the Peace Act 1908.

Where any Act passed after the passing of this Act authorises the making of bylaws, and contains no provision imposing any penalty for the breach of bylaws made thereunder, or authorising the local authority to impose any penalty therefor, then the local authority making any such bylaw may provide a fine for any breach thereof of an amount not exceeding $500.

When by any bylaw a person is made liable to a fine of any amount, he or she may be sentenced to pay a fine of any less amount.

The production of a copy of the Gazette purporting to contain a copy of any bylaw shall be sufficient evidence, until the contrary is proved, of the existence, publication, validity, and provisions of the bylaw, and of the date of its coming into operation.

The production of any document purporting to be or contain a copy of any bylaw and to be authenticated by the seal of the local authority making the same shall, without further evidence of the authenticity of the seal or of any other matter, be sufficient evidence, until the contrary is proved, of the existence, publication, validity, and provisions of the bylaw and of the date of its coming into operation.

A certificate of the confirmation under this Act of any bylaw may be sufficiently proved by the production of any document which is sufficient evidence of the bylaw itself and which contains or purports to contain the certificate of confirmation or any copy thereof.

Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to exclude any other sufficient evidence.

The provisions of this Act shall apply to all bylaws whether made before or after the commencement of this Act, save that nothing herein contained shall have the effect of imposing any liability upon any person in respect of any thing done or omitted by him or her before the commencement of this Act.

Section 353 of the Municipal Corporations Act 1908 (relating to the quashing and amendment of bylaws by the Supreme Court) is hereby repealed.