NCJ Number
79133
Journal
Ars Aequi Volume: 27 Issue: 5 Dated: (1978) Pages: 289-292
Date Published
1978
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The provisions of the Netherlands' measure of 18 April 1978 on police fines, which modifies the earlier regulation of 1959, are outlined.
Abstract
The new law on police fines was necessitated by changes in the fine system resulting from the rapid expansion in police use of such fines. The original law was designed to simplify disposition of minor offenses, especially the growing number of minor traffic violations. Critics objected that allowing police to impose fines would interfere with appropriate distribution of responsibilities to police and the courts and would deny citizens the right to treatment according to individual circumstances. Nevertheless, the law was passed and has proved a very successful means of controlling the number of minor offenses that reach the courts. The authority to impose fines for minor offenses extends to local and national police, the Royal Constabulary, border police on the German border, and special investigative police at the national and local levels. The list of offenses that can be settled by fines includes six categories, five of them relating to traffic offenses and one of a general nature. Fines can only be imposed when the individual charged is caught in the act and is over the age of 16. According to provisions of the new decree, the amount of the fine imposed is linked to the level of fines imposed by the public prosecutor's office; the amount of such fines (currently 5 to 80 guilders) is to be publicized in the Dutch Gazette. As before, payment is made directly to the arresting officer. The new regulation also permits officers the choice of filing reports rather than imposing fines in certain districts or for certain offenses.