An important power in the government’s drive against crime and anti-social behaviour is putting punishment before justice, a new report from the Crime and Society Foundation argues.
The Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) – an on-the-spot fine issued by the police for a range of perceived petty misdemeanours – requires individuals to pay fines of between £30 and £80 pounds regardless of whether they are guilty of the offence.
Coming just before the one-year anniversary of the national roll-out of PNDs, the Foundation’s report, ‘Punishment before justice?’, raises questions, it is claimed, about the sense of punishing people for offences for which they do not admit guilt. A particularly worrying element, the report argues, is that those who pay PNDs on a no-admission-of-guilt basis could find such payment used as evidence of wrongdoing at a future point in time. This risks creating a new ‘semi-criminal’ class; those with no formal criminal record yet deemed to be offenders. The report also points out that PNDs could create a two-tier justice system, with the well-off buying their way out of any further action and poorer people having to take their chance in court.
Richard Garside, director of the Crime and Society Foundation and co-author of the report, said: “It is a bizarre state of affairs when an individual is required to pay a fine for a crime without going to court and without having to admit guilt. This is putting the desire to punish above the principles of justice. It’s a good wheeze for ministers and the police because it creates the illusion of justice being done and crime being tackled. But Penalty Notices for Disorder are more about extending the reach of the police and the criminal justice system than delivering genuine justice or promoting greater safety.” Penalty Notices for Disorder came into law in the 2001 Criminal Justice and Police Act. They were rolled out nationally on April 1, 2004. Recipients of a PND can challenge the fine in court, but risk picking up a criminal conviction by doing so. The Crime and Society Foundation is an think tank for crime policy based at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King’s College London.
