Penalties 'need major overhaul'

The Law Commission wants a "major overhaul" of the infringements system, including the separation of offences into two categories.

In a study paper released today it makes 20 recommendations for improving the system as part of a review being carried out by the Ministry of Justice.

The infringements system originally dealt only with minor traffic breaches, the commission said. But by last year, infringement fees totalled an estimated $315 million.

The commission's acting president, Dr Warren Young, said the system was sometimes unfair as a result of having to deal with many offences carrying substantial infringement fees.

"High penalties can be imposed in circumstances where the defendant's rights are diminished and where the penalties can have grossly different impacts on different defendants," he said.

The commission also noted the system's deterrent effect may have been compromised by the high number of infringement notices issued and by well-publicised cases, particularly of young defendants who had high levels of fees.

It said there was an inconsistency in enforcement policies and an uncoordinated enforcement effort.

At the same time, enforcement notices were likely to be issued nowadays for conduct that previously would have attracted a warning.

The commission recommended infringement offences be divided into two tiers, depending on the severity of the behaviour involved.

Offences of the lowest severity and harm should be in the first tier.

An arbitrary penalty ceiling should be set at a level the poorest people could pay. The commission discussed a figure around $200 or $250.

For tier-one offences the rights of defendants and the discretion of prosecuting authorities would be at their most limited and there would be no scope for taking account of the circumstances of the offence or of the defendant, the commission said.

Tier-two offences should be those with higher penalties.

"The main difference for these offences is that there should be some mechanism for taking account of the circumstances of the offence and the offender, and for the fee to be varied, without the offender having to go to court."

There should be clear guidelines for the exercise of discretion.

"Their [the guidelines'] existence should encourage enforcement officers to consider the best option in every case ... and dispel suspicion that the main consideration ... is quota fulfilment or revenue gathering."

Infringements

* 25 years ago the infringements system dealt with minor traffic breaches (eg, parking offences).

* It now deals with more than 2.5 million breaches of the law each year, with infringement regimes existing under 24 statutes.

* It's estimated about $315 million in infringement fees were imposed last year.

* Infringement offence fees range from $12 parking fines to those of potentially many thousands of dollars under laws covering areas such as gambling and building.

- NZPA