Judges wipe $250,000 in fines

Wairarapa offenders had more than $250,000 in outstanding fines wiped last year by the courts, Ministry of Justice figures reveal.

The largest amount wiped from a single offender in the region since 2010 was $51,500, for breaching the Tax Administration Act. The fines were remitted by a judge because the offender had died.

Wairarapa criminal lawyer Jock Blathwayt said remittals happened at times when people simply didn't have the means to pay.

"If a person can't pay - if they're on a benefit or there's some change of circumstances, then the court's got to do something different," Mr Blathwayt said. "What other solutions are there?"

In September 2011, Tristan Barnett, of Masterton, was sentenced to four months' community detention and 100 hours' community work for a drink-drive charge and outstanding fines. Judge Thomas Broadmore remitted $15,000 of Barnett's $37,000 in fines.

It was estimated Barnett would have taken nearly 24 years to pay the fines off at $30 a week. He had also had $55,000 of fines previously remitted by substituting community work.

Over $91 million in outstanding fines was wiped for more than 83,000 offenders nationwide last year, and sentences replaced with jail, community sentences, or wiped completely because of death and company liquidations.

Figures released under the Official Information Act showed $575.91 million was owing in outstanding fines and reparation at the start of this year.

The highest remittal since 2010 was in Christchurch, where one offender had $294,491 remitted for breaching the Tax Administration Act and a vehicle offence.

Remitting fines may occur at a judge's discretion when attempts to enforce fines or reparation have failed. Enforcement action over unpaid fines can include clamping vehicles, seizing and selling property, deducting from an income or bank account, issuing arrest warrants and preventing international travel.

Registrars also have the discretion to remit court costs and enforcement fees to encourage people to pay the original fines, and to remit small outstanding balances of less than $5.

In the past three years, 43.4 per cent of remittals nationally was for unpaid enforcement fees or court costs. Remittals were also frequently used when a victim had received reparation directly and the court needed to correct its records.

Ministry of Justice deputy secretary legal and operational services spokesman Nigel Fyfe said just under $250 million in fines and reparation was collected every year on behalf of victims, local authorities and agencies such as the police. About 90 per cent of it was for traffic-related offences, he said.

At the end of last year, 43.2 per cent of fines was overdue, down from 58 per cent five years ago.

Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said offenders who refused to pay fines were "giving their fingers to the system".

"At what point are we going to say 'enough is enough?' At what point are we going to say that the judge - his word has got to be law," he asked.

In the past three years, nearly half of fines remitted were converted into an alternative sentence - 39.4 per cent for community work, 3.8 per cent for jail, 3.7 per cent for community detention and 0.8 per cent for home detention. APNZ