Not the right signal on crime

THE Sentencing Commission for Scotland, established by the Executive in 2003 to review the current system of prison tariffs and fines,

yesterday proposed the abolition of court fines for all convicted wrongdoers who are low-paid or on welfare benefits. Instead, they should be given a supervision order, which (coincidentally) is the same sanction that the commission proposes for anyone who fails to pay a fine, instead of prison.

Many will find a serious gulf between the First Minister's tough rhetoric on crime and the commission's more liberal stance on fining. In its defence, the commission argues that it is illogical to fine people who are in no position to pay, and that Scotland's prisons are filled with such people - many of them women - not because of their minor infractions but because of their poverty. The commission has a point. However, in this case it is in danger of throwing out the baby with the proverbial bathwater. Removing the sanction of a fine purely on the basis of income sends out entirely the wrong signal, both to the public and to criminals, and it smacks of two-tier justice based on class. The option of a fine should be left to the courts, who already have the power to order that fines be paid in instalments in order to ensure that individuals and their families do not suffer hardship.