Almost everyone who is convicted in a court in England and Wales leaves with a bill to pay. Yet there is a striking gap in our knowledge on the most common sentencing outcome handed down by our courts: the court fine.
During this cost of living crisis, the Centre for Justice Innovation, supported by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, have been conducting research into the experience of people with low and unstable incomes, and the impact receiving a court fine has had on them. Our findings suggest that the impacts are often highly disproportionate: while better off people experience only minor hardships, such as forgoing a holiday, for a significant number of those on the lowest incomes paying their court fine pushed them deeper towards unmanageable debt, destitution and significant levels of anxiety and mental anguish. Our research highlights that, contrary to the sentencing objectives of the court fine, the financial impact of fines and charges are not experienced equally by people with different levels of means. Our research also found major gaps on the data collected, especially on the socio-economic status of those who are fined, meaning there is not a clear picture of who gets fined, who pays and who doesn’t (and why).
Join us on the 16th of May from 12.30-14.00 for the online launch of this new research. It is an opportunity to hear about the main findings from the research team, insights from a person with lived experience of being fined, who will tell their story about the impact it had on their financial and mental wellbeing, and from experts in the field, Damon Gibbons, Chief Executive, Centre for Responsible Credit and a representative of the Magistrates Association. The Centre’s Director, Phil Bowen, will chair a Q&A with this panel of experts to discuss the themes raised in the report.
