Fines: More fines more problems

Fines, restitution, surcharge fees: money ordered to be paid to the court and/or those harmed by your offence(s) as part of your sentence. If you don’t read any further the take-away of this post is this: PAY THEM, and pay them as quickly as possible.

A few years into my career I read an interesting article regarding fine payments, around the time that mandatory minimum sentencing came into effect. It said that judges, faced with no allowance for discretion when imposing fines/surcharges, were giving those they were sentencing what effectively amounted to unlimited time to pay (essentially granting those they deemed unable to pay due to their circumstances a “free” pass). They thought they were doing a good thing, under the impression that they were helping. I had a similar conversation with a friend, a criminal defense lawyer at the time, who thought the gesture was an appropriate loophole in the system.

The reality was this hurt those who now believed that their fine/surcharge could remain unpaid without any repercussions. I would imagine that the judges, like my friend the lawyer, didn’t realize that an outstanding payment to the court meant that the individual could never receive a pardon for their record in the future. Even if they did eventually pay, say in 10 year’s time, their eligibility for the pardon could be delayed by an ADDITIONAL 10 year period (as a result of the mandatory pardon waiting periods beginning from the completion of the sentence, fines/surcharges included).

Moral of the story. Pay, and pay fast.

I couldn’t tell you the number of clients I’ve worked with who unknowingly had money owing to the court, and how devastating it was for them to learn that their application would be delayed as a result. The worst part? There’s no way around the waiting period. My advice? If you’re unsure if your fines are paid contact the court as soon as possible to confirm. Just because nobody has followed up with you for the money doesn’t mean nothing is owed. An amount as little as $2.00 could put your file on hold.

As part of our service we will determine if you have any monies owing to the court, however it never hurts to do your own due-diligence prior to getting started with an application.

Questions remaining? Let us know!

The ‘Suspend This’ Team