A controversial tax on guilty defendants may be scrapped as part of Michael Gove’s criminal justice reforms.
The unpopular criminal courts’ charge is being reviewed after widespread concerns among magistrates. At least 50 have resigned.
The charge was introduced by Chris Grayling, Mr Gove’s predecessor as justice secretary, and has led to some magistrates imposing lesser sentences so as not to hit defendants with an additional charge they cannot pay.
The fee is mandatory and starts at £150, rising to as much as £1,000. It is higher if a defendant pleads not guilty but is then convicted, which magistrates say puts pressure on innocent defendants to plead guilty.
Pressure to address the unpopular charge has increased after a vote this week in the House of Lords opposed the policy by 132 to 100.
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Options being considered in Whitehall are to scrap the charge entirely or to make it discretionary so that magistrates would be able to waive it. Another possibility is means testing.
Any change will be announced as part of the settlement for the department in the current comprehensive spending review next month. Before the charge was introduced in April, the Ministry of Justice estimated that it would yield £65 million to £85 million a year but it is estimated that less than £300,000 has been collected out of £5 million imposed.
Mr Gove is reviewing a range of policy initiatives introduced by his predecessor. This week the government scrapped a contract under which the Ministry of Justice would have provided prison service training to Saudi Arabia.
Mr Gove has also overturned a ban on prisoners receiving books and abolished a £100 million plan for a “borstal-style” secure children’s college.
A survey by the Magistrates’ Association, seen by The Times , found that 70 per cent of magistrates had witnessed cases where the mandatory charge had had an impact on sentencing, resulting in courts giving a lower or different sentence.
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Magistrates are required to impose a sentence that is just and proportionate in its totality. The criminal charge conflicts with this principle, they say. A Leicestershire magistrate resigned after trying to pay a destitute asylum seeker’s court charge himself.
The survey findings, sent to the Commons justice committee, show “deep disquiet” among magistrates over the charge, which they argue should be means tested and discretionary. It found that 93 per cent said it was not fair or proportionate.
In many cases, such as for careless driving or minor theft, the new charge exceeded the fine imposed. In most cases of conditional discharge, offenders pay £250.