Justice Dept chasing $16M in unpaid fines
Political reporter The Justice Department is pursuing $l6 million in unpaid fines by using warrants of seizure, according to the Minister of Justice, Mr Palmer. An additional $22 million is being chased up by warrants or summonses because of an unwillingness or inability to pay. Mr Palmer yesterday criticised reports that the department was owed $53 million in unpaid fines as "misleading.” “There is a great difference between overdue fines and unpaid fines which are not yet due, or which are in the process of being collected,” said Mr Palmer. He released a table showing that there was $24.3 million outstanding in fines — saying that the figure of $53 million was a total sum including a number of different categories.
These other categories were: Court costs, $8.4 million; reparation, $7.6 million; restitution, $0.6 million; towage fees, $0.06 million; witness expenses, $.l million; cost of prosecution, $0.15 million; other fees or costs, $l.l million; and enforcement fees, $11.3 million. Mr Palmer claimed that the figure of $53 million, which these categories totalled, needed to be broken down into what is owed, what was being paid off and what was being actively pursued if the public was to have an understanding of the situation. Further figures supplied by Mr Palmer showed that of the $53 million, some $9.9 million was not yet due and $5.6 million was being collected on a time-to-pay basis. That left some $3B million, of which $l6 million was being pursued
by warrants of seizure, and $22 million by warrants or summonses. Mr Palmer said this showed that fines defaulters were being actively pursued, although total fines outstanding were growing due to an increased rate of the imposition of fines. - The department’s efforts to convert manual ledgers to computer records meant that there had been a bulge in the number of enforcement processes generated automatically by the computer. “This is reflected by the workload currently with the bailiffs and is believed to be a temporary situation only,” he said. “I think these details, show that although fines are unpaid, the department has more ability now than ever before to collect them and is doing so with vigour.”
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19890218.2.46
Bibliographic details
Press, 18 February 1989, Page 8
Word Count
366Justice Dept chasing $16M in unpaid fines Press, 18 February 1989, Page 8
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.