Secret courts issuing record number of fines

Secret courts issued a record number of fines in the last year, despite concerns that flaws in the system are exposing vulnerable people to injustice.

The number of penalties of over £200 for offences including non-payment of television licence fees, speeding, fare-dodging and truancy has more than doubled from 34,592 in 2021 to 87,538 in 2023.

The fines, of over £200 and up to £10,000, were issued in 78.2 per cent of Single Justice Procedure (SJP) cases last year, often without defendants even attending or registering a plea. This is up from 62.6 per cent in just two years, according to an analysis of official data by The Telegraph.

Campaigners said the size of the fines was “shocking” and “incredibly high” given that the offence could involve as little as failing to pay a £2 bus ticket.

The SJP was introduced in 2015, so magistrates could deal with non-imprisonable lower level offences without the defendant needing to attend court in order to speed up justice.

However, with nearly 70 per cent of those prosecuted failing even to register a plea, campaigners warned thousands of people could be being landed with hefty fines without their knowledge.

The Magistrates’ Association has admitted it is concerned by the high numbers failing to lodge a plea, which means they often do not have the information they need to judge the appropriate size of fine.

Penelope Gibbs, a former magistrate and chief executive of Transform Justice, said: “Given that the minority of defendants engage with the process, magistrates are fining people they know nothing about.

“So magistrates are meting out fines people may be completely unable to pay. That’s why the Single Justice Procedure is a misnomer. It’s profoundly unjust.”

Failure to pay fines can not only see the costs for a defendant escalate but can in rare cases result in people being sent to jail.

The disclosures will increase pressure on Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary. He has pledged to open up the process to greater scrutiny by the public and journalists after criticism that the hearings have led to vulnerable people suffering injustice.

Prosecutions under the SJP have increased in the past two years, meaning that the number of fines has also increased but, at the same time, people are facing bigger financial penalties with the average fine rising from under £200 to £222 last year.

Among them were 211 people who were fined more than £500 for non-payment of their TV licence fee in 2023. Overall, more than 3,000 people were fined over £500 and 295 fined more than £1,000.

Two people were fined between £5,000 and £10,000 and four between £2,500 and £5,000 for public health offences, which are believed to be breaches of Covid regulations.

Could land criminal record

In the year to September 2023, more than 410,000 people – 70 per cent of the total who were prosecuted behind closed doors – did not register a plea, suggesting they did not know or did not care even though it could land them with a criminal record.

Mark Beattie, chair of the Magistrates’ Association, said the non-plea rate needed to be urgently investigated and reviewed as failure to “engage with the process” meant magistrates would not have any information on a person’s ability to pay.

“If they don’t declare their means, there is an assumed means which is £120 for people on benefits, and £440 for the employed,” he said. “£440 a week is quite a good salary.”

He called for a public education campaign. “Part of the problem is that we are not sure people realise how serious what is coming through their door,” he said.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The number of fines via the Single Justice Procedure has risen in recent years following periods of limited enforcement due to Covid restrictions.

“Sentencing decisions, including fines, are a matter for the independent judiciary who consider the facts of each case. Magistrates are always assisted by a legally qualified adviser, defendants can choose to go to court if they want to, and the details of their case are published to provide transparency.”