Gove announces criminal courts charge to be scrapped from December 24

By The Press Association3rd December 2015News EnglandCourts / Justice, Custodial Care, News England

A controversial courts charge levied on criminals is to be scrapped within weeks, Michael Gove has confirmed.

The fees, which can range from from £150 to £1,200, will no longer apply from December 24, the Justice Secretary said. He also announced a review into the “entire structure and purpose” of court-ordered financial sanctions for offenders.

The criminal courts charge was introduced by Mr Gove’s predecessor Chris Grayling during the coalition government to help towards the running of the courts system.

But it has provoked intense criticism, with more than 50 magistrates understood to have resigned in protest.

Mr Gove announced the scrapping of the charge, which is levied on anyone convicted of a crime, at a meeting of the Magistrates Association Council in London.

He said: “When the magistracy has made its views on particular policies crystal clear I have been listening hard.

“Take the criminal courts charge. It was introduced for the best of reasons – to ensure that those who impose costs on the criminal justice system make a contribution to those costs wherever possible.

“If you’ve deliberately broken the law, if the taxpayer has to shell out to ensure justice is done, and if you have the means, then there can clearly be a case for the court imposing a financial penalty.

“But it has become clear that while the intention behind the policy was honourable, in reality that intent has fallen short.”

Mr Gove stressed he had not taken the decision “in isolation from consideration of the whole range of penalties, fines and charges imposed in our courts”.

Money is taken from offenders through fines, a victim surcharge, compensation orders, prosecution costs and the criminal courts charge.

The justice secretary said the array of sanctions and penalties is “complex and confusing”.

He has asked his department to carry out a review into “the entire structure, and purpose, of court-ordered financial impositions for offenders, in order to bring greater simplicity and clarity to the system”.

The inquiry will aim to give the judiciary, including magistrates, greater discretion in setting financial orders and make monetary penalties a more effective tool in the delivery of non-custodial sentences.

Mr Gove added: “My third hope is that we can properly – and fairly – ensure that money raised through financial penalties plays an appropriate – and sustainable – role in supporting taxpayers to meet the costs of running the courts.”

An amending statutory instrument being laid in Parliament today means that as of Christmas Eve, the criminal courts charge will no longer be imposed.

The scrapping of the levy just seven months after it was introduced follows an avalanche of opposition from magistrates, lawyers and campaign groups.

Last month MPs called for the charges to be immediately dropped after voicing “grave misgivings”.

In a report, the House of Commons Justice Committee cited the case of a woman who admitted stealing a four-pack of Mars bars worth 75p, saying she “had not eaten in days” after her benefits were sanctioned.

She was ordered to pay a £150 criminal courts charge on top of her £73 fine, £85 costs, a £20 victim surcharge and 75p compensation.

Anecdotal evidence also suggested defendants who had intended to plead not guilty changed their plea in order to pay the minimum £150 charge, rather than the £1,000 they could face in a magistrates’ court or £1,200 in a Crown Court if the case goes to trial.

Malcolm Richardson, national chairman of the Magistrates Association, said it was “fantastic news”.

He added: “We’re very grateful to Mr Gove for listening to the case made by magistrates about the charge.

“In all my years on the bench, I’ve never seen something strike so hard at the heart of justice.

“Although we have lost many experienced magistrates, there will be an enormous sense of relief across the criminal justice system.”

Shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter described the announcement as a “big win” for those who argued against the “daft policy”.

It is the latest in a series of policy reversals overseen by Mr Gove since his appointment to the brief following the election.

Plans to outsource the collection of fines and proposals for secure colleges have been scrapped, while a controversial £5.9 million bid to run prison training services in Saudi Arabia was ended.

The former education secretary has also set out radical plans to overhaul prisons and courts.

Shadow justice secretary Lord Falconer said: “That it has taken months of campaigning from criminal justice campaigners, magistrates, victims, Labour MPs and the Justice Select Committee, as well as the Government losing a vote in the House of Lords, before it was abolished is a further demonstration of this Government’s incompetence and misplaced priorities.

“Michael Gove should be devoting his time to tackling the violence, drug abuse and overcrowding which is rampant in our prison system, rather than having to run around cleaning up the mistakes of Chris Grayling.”