Description:
<jats:p> This article focuses on three main aspects concerning the use of financial penalties as a sanction of the court and draws on research conducted in the magistrates' courts of England and Wales. First is the issue of fixing the fines at levels appropriate to offenders' abilities to pay and in this respect the research highlighted problems at point of sentence in taking account of offenders' financial means into account. Second is the issue of how financial penalties are enforced in cases where offenders do not settle their debts in accordance with the courts' expectations. Here, the research identified the varying personal circumstances and motivations that lie behind unpaid fines for the magistrates' courts and suggested the need for a wider range of strategies to be used in responding to default. Third, is the wider issue of the fine as a sanction for certain categories of offence. Here the article draws on the findings from interviews conducted with magistrates as part of the research and reports a range of views on fines within the overall sentencing framework. </jats:p>