North's courts waive $10m in fines

Northland Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Steve Detlaff said the ministry should be taking a tougher line on offenders. Photo / Thinkstock

Northland district courts waived more than $10 million in fines in the past three years, according to official figures.

Ministry of Justice records show Whangarei District Court remitted more than $6.1 million in fines from 2012 to 2014. Kaikohe District Court axed more than $2.6 million and Kaitaia District Court more than $1.7 million.

The number and monetary sum of fines remitted decreased each year at all three courts. In some cases, an alternative sentence was given when a fine was remitted. Over the three-year period, the courts substituted 105 fines with community detention, 2551 with community work, 37 with home detention and 89 with imprisonment.

Northland Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Steve Detlaff said the ministry should be taking a tougher line on offenders.

"Most people have some kind of income, whether it be from a job or from social welfare," he said. "If the offender can't pay the fine and they're on a benefit, their benefit should be stopped until they pay it.

"The information that they haven't paid their fines should also be passed to Customs so they can't jet off to Australia or wherever without paying their fines."

Mr Detlaff believed alternative sentences should be implemented additionally - not as a substitute - if fines weren't paid.

"A fine shouldn't just disappear if it's not paid after a certain point. An additional sentence like community service could be given as a tax for not paying the original fine, but the fine should still have to be paid to the court."

Ministry of Justice general manager of collections Jacquelyn Shannon said the ministry was committed to ensuring fines and reparation remained a credible sanction in New Zealand. Legislation passed in 2010 gave the ministry enhanced collection powers, she said.

Northland Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Steve Detlaff.

"Changes include judges having the ability to re-sentence a person to prison or home detention if reparation they have been ordered to pay is unenforceable or unaffordable, provided these sentences were available at the time of the original sentencing."

The amount of outstanding fines and reparation has fallen from $658.8 million in July 2011 to $567.1 million owing as at 31 August 2014.

Meanwhile, the proportion of overdue fines has reduced from 48.2 per cent in July 2011, to 42.1 per cent as at 31 August 2014.