Wednesday 27 June 2012
On 1 July 2012, The Offences (Fixed Penalties) (Guernsey) Law 2009 will come into force. The States of Deliberation today approved the the Commencement Ordinance.
Currently fixed penalty notices can only be issued for a limited range of parking and motoring related offences. This will change on 1 July 2012, when a much wider range of offences will be able to be dealt with by means of a fixed penalty notice rather than automatically being dealt with in Court. A full list of the offences which will be included in the fixed penalty scheme from 1 July 2012 is set out in the Schedule to the Law[2] . Examples of such offences include the dropping of litter, failing to wear crash helmets, seat belt offences, the use of mobile telephones whilst driving, control of dogs and boating offences.
The new Law will have different levels of fixed penalty to reflect the relative seriousness of the different categories of offence. In the event that the fixed penalty is paid within seven days of the issue of the fixed penalty notice the amount payable is reduced by £10 -
Band A Fixed Penalty Offence - £40 (reduced to £30 if paid within 7 days)
Band B Fixed Penalty Offence - £70 (reduced to £60 if paid within 7 days)
Band C Fixed Penalty Offence - £100 (reduced to £90 if paid within 7 days)
From 1 July 2012, new manually issued fixed penalty notices will be produced and, following staff training later on this year, electronic ticket issuing machines will be introduced primarily for traffic wardens.
The fixed penalties can be paid as per the current arrangements. Additionally, members of the public will now be able to pay their fixed penalties by telephone. In the New Year, the Department intends to introduce the ability for fixed penalties to be paid online through the States of Guernsey web portal.
Home Department Minister, Deputy Jon Le Tocq said:
"The introduction of the new fixed penalty system will bring a number of benefits. Members of the public issued with fixed penalty tickets will be able to benefit from a reduced fee by paying within seven days. Police time will be saved with the introduction of electronic tickets and the increase in the number of penalties dealt with by fixed penalties will assist in reducing the amount of Court time spent dealing with relatively minor offences".
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Contact information
Chief Inspector Nigel Taylor
Tel: 01481 725111
Links:
[1] The Offences (Fixed Penalties) (Guernsey) Law 2009 (pursuant to the States Resolution of the 26th October, 2006, Billet d'État XVII 2006).
[1] The relevant Commencement Ordinance is available at: Billet d'État XV 2012
[1] The Schedule to the Law details the offences which can be dealt with by means of a fixed penalty and the band/amount of the various fixed penalties.
