One in three face no action after refusing to pay criminal fines

More than one in three criminals who refuse to pay fines imposed on them by Scottish courts are subject to no further action, analysis by the Scottish Conservatives has shown.

Accordingtofiguresobtained by the party via a Freedom of Informationrequest,around39 per cent of people who refused to pay fines in 2018/19 faced “no further action” from the justice system.

This number rose to 40 per cent in 2019/20, with the majority of cases in 2020/21 ongoing due to Covid-19 and court backlogs.

The Scottish Conservatives said these figures showed the “reality of the SNP’S soft-touch justice system”, adding it was at odds with a statement from deputy first minister John

Swinney in Holyrood earlier this year.

The Covid recovery secretary saidduringajusticedebatethat “safeguards are built into the operation of fiscal fines, which are not mandatory penalties”.

Mr Swinney said: “Anyone who is offered a fiscal fine as an alternative to prosecution may refuse such an offer by giving notice to the court to that effect.

"In such an event, the refusal is treated as a request by the allegedoffendertobeprosecutedfortheoffence,inwhichcase the procurator fiscal decides what action to take in the public interest.”

Scottish Conservative community justice spokesperson Russell Findlay said the numbernotpenalisedforrefusingto payfinesexposedthe“sham”of Mr Swinney’s comments.

Hesaid:“theseshockingnew figures show the reality of the Snp’ssoft-touchjusticesystem, which routinely betrays crime victims.

"This exposes the sham of John Swinney's claim, made to the Scottish Parliament, that rejection of these fines is likely to result in prosecution.

“The message this sends is clear – alleged offenders know they can break the law with impunity as they won't pay the price under this SNP Government.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said decisions around further action were for the Crown Office to take.

The spokesperson said: “Use of non-court disposals for less serious offending is a longstanding and recognised part of the Scottish justice system, which the Scottish Parliament haslegislatedtoprovidepowers forthecrownofficeandprocurator Fiscal Service to use.”