DLM
01-14-2005, 04:14 PM
Blair government proposes that court fines be linked to offender's income
LONDON (AP) - The British government has proposed that court fines are directly linked to an offender's income, prompting angry accusations Friday that it is unfairly targeting the middle class.
Under the current law, judges set fines according to the severity of the offence, and can reduce the sum if the culprit cannot pay. But under the new system proposed by Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s Labour government, the level would be dictated by the income of the offender, leading to a steep increase in fines paid by the well off.
"This is a cynical attempt by Labour to make the middle classes pick up the bill for their failure to manage the criminal justice system," said David Davis, law and order spokesman for the opposition Conservative party. "This aspect of the bill is less about justice, and more about raising money."
The Home Office defended the Management of Offenders and Sentencing Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on Thursday.
"Fines are meant to have equal impact on the rich and the poor and what this does is formalize the process of means testing that already exists," the department said in a statement.
The plan would only apply to magistrates courts, which sentence less serious offences. The judge would calculate the daily disposable income of the offender, up to a maximum of 75 pounds or about $170 Cdn and multiply that by the number of points assigned to an offence.
Minor offences such as being drunk in a bar would carry 10 points, while failing to stop after being involved in a traffic accident would carry 200 points.
A better off person with a daily disposable income of 60 pounds ($136 Cdn) would thus pay 600 pounds ($1,360 Cdn) for being drunk in a bar, while a person with just five pounds (about $11 Cdn) a day would pay 50 pounds ($110 Cdn)
LONDON (AP) - The British government has proposed that court fines are directly linked to an offender's income, prompting angry accusations Friday that it is unfairly targeting the middle class.
Under the current law, judges set fines according to the severity of the offence, and can reduce the sum if the culprit cannot pay. But under the new system proposed by Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s Labour government, the level would be dictated by the income of the offender, leading to a steep increase in fines paid by the well off.
"This is a cynical attempt by Labour to make the middle classes pick up the bill for their failure to manage the criminal justice system," said David Davis, law and order spokesman for the opposition Conservative party. "This aspect of the bill is less about justice, and more about raising money."
The Home Office defended the Management of Offenders and Sentencing Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on Thursday.
"Fines are meant to have equal impact on the rich and the poor and what this does is formalize the process of means testing that already exists," the department said in a statement.
The plan would only apply to magistrates courts, which sentence less serious offences. The judge would calculate the daily disposable income of the offender, up to a maximum of 75 pounds or about $170 Cdn and multiply that by the number of points assigned to an offence.
Minor offences such as being drunk in a bar would carry 10 points, while failing to stop after being involved in a traffic accident would carry 200 points.
A better off person with a daily disposable income of 60 pounds ($136 Cdn) would thus pay 600 pounds ($1,360 Cdn) for being drunk in a bar, while a person with just five pounds (about $11 Cdn) a day would pay 50 pounds ($110 Cdn)