Jail for debt ‘last resort’

Press, 12 September 1986, Page 1

Jail for debt ‘last resort’

By ASHLEY CAMPBELL Imprisonment will probably remain as a lastresort punishment for people who do not pay their debts, says the Minister of Justice, Mr Palmer. Mr Palmer was commenting on reports of a Southland woman who was sent to prison in Christchurch for not paying a debt of $1316. The woman’s air fare to Christchurch, and a return air fare, were added to her debt. Mr Palmer said debtors

were given every chance to pay off their debt before imprisonment was considered. The first step was a default summons taken out against debtors. After that distress warrants were issued. Mr Palmer said court bailiffs would examine the debtor’s resources, to see if anything could be sold to pay the debts. If the debts were still not paid, judgment summonses could be issued against debtors. Debtors could then appear before

the court to discuss their means. A judgment summons order would then be made, requiring that a certain amount be paid off the debt each week. “If they have not got the means to pay, they are not ordered to pay,” Mr Palmer said. If the debtors defaulted on these payments, committal warrants were issued. Usually the debtors paid at this stage, he said. If they did not, they were sent to prison. “In 1985 7574 committal

warrants were issued, but only 140 debtors actually spent some time in prison,” Mr Palmer said. This showed the threat of imprisonment was enough to make most people pay. “You cannot say on the basis of one case that has got emotional appeal that the whole procedure should be done away with,” he said. “If a court looks very closely at a person’s circumstances and arrives at a conclusion that they can afford to pay but are not paying, what other sanction have

you got?” A maximum sentence of community service would not solve this problem, he said. “Obviously there are occasions when the system may go wrong,” he said, "but you can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” Mr Palmer said he had asked for a report from the Justice Department on the practice of adding air fares to a person’s debt if they had to be flown to the nearest prison. Further reports, page 8