Sometimes were are told by applicant's that "the judge told me that I was eligible for a work licence...".
We actually hear this quite often. The reality is Judges are people, people make mistakes. There are completely precise rules written into the Land Transport Act 1988 relating to exactly who may and who may not apply for a Limited Licence - or work licence.
Laws are not written by the courts - they are enforced by courts. Laws cannot be altered by courts - only by the Government and that's Parliament.
So being told in court by a Judge, that you are eligible for a Limited Licence (when the law says that you are not) (depending exactly on your situation and precise reason for your disqualification) does not, and will not ever change the fact that – if you are "statute barred" from applying for a Limited Licence, then that is exactly what you are. No Judge can change that. Regardless of what the tell you in court.
A perfect example of this is an Interlock Disqualification and Interlock Device. Once you achieve an Excess Breath Alcohol reading of 800mcg/l of breath (or a BAC level of 160) you instantly trigger the Land Transport Act 1988 Interlock section, meaning you will be convicted of EBA over 800mcg/l – and the sentence for that is an automatic Interlock Disqualification. The only licence achieveable from the NZTA in that situation is an Interlock Licence. Nothing else. It goes further, if the Judge somehow fails to disqualify you with an Interlock Disqualification (because they want to be kind - and wrongly believe that will help you - it will not) then you simply cannot actually get an Interlock Device installed and get an Interlock Licence. This is because the NZTA who mandate interlocks REQUIRE an Interlock Disqualification - in order to grant an Interlock Licence. That means it's worse than having an interlock device, not better than, and they have done you a major disservice. We have seen this happen in a NZ Court, about half a dozen times - yes the same District Court and the same Judge. Mistakes can happen. The driver was not able to get an interlock and was also not able to get a Limited Licence.