COMPLIANCE RATES in paying fines imposed by courts as punishment for criminal offences has dropped significantly because of the effects of the recession.
If trends for the start of the year continue, less than €60 in every €100 imposed as a fine this year will be collected.
While rates of collection had risen as high as 73 per cent in 2010, following the establishment of a new debt-collection agency, the situation has deteriorated this year, with collection rates falling to 65 per cent in the first five months.
Fines that are higher in value are harder to collect.
This means a 65 per cent collection rate in the volume of fines imposed will most likely equate to a collection rate of under 60 per cent of the monetary value of the total fines imposed by the courts this year.
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has suggested the slippage in collection rates witnessed so far this year is linked to the recession.
“It [the slippage] may, in part, be attributable to the general downturn in the economy,” he said.
Many people who are fined by the courts and do not pay the fine are sent to prison, usually for very short periods, as an alternative punishment.
It means any increase in the number of people not paying fines is likely to increase prison committals, putting further pressure on the overcrowded prison system.
According to the latest figures from the Department of Justice, some 120,000 fines totalling €43 million were handed down by the courts last year.
When adjustments for appeals and cancellations were factored in, the total number of collectable fines last year was 92,000, with a total combined value of €29 million.
Of these fines, 68,000 were collected last year to the value of €21 million. This equated to a collection rate of 73 per cent based on volume of fines and 71 per cent based on value.
A spokesman for the Courts Service said the collection rate last year was comparable to international best practice, while the rate had fallen back somewhat in the first five months of the year.
The spokesman said a range of measures had been introduced in recent years to improve collections rates and that notwithstanding the recent fall in collection rates, these new measures were working well.
These included new facilities to pay online and a reminder and collection service run by the privately operated Fines Collection Service, which was established last year.
Fines are imposed for a range of criminal offences particularly road traffic offences and public order offences. When a fine is imposed as a sanction in court, it is imposed on the basis that failure to pay within a set period will result in a short prison sentence.
The length of that sentence is usually a number of weeks and is specified by the judge. After a fine is imposed, a notice outlining the amount and payment methods is sent to the person involved.
If the fine is not paid, the Garda can obtained a committal warrant, which effectively activates the imprisonment sanction outlined by the judge in the event the fine went unpaid.