20/03/2015
On 12 March 2015 Section 85 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012 came into force. The aim of this section is to give more power to magistrates’ courts by removing the upper limit on the size of fine they can impose, in order to free up Crown Courts to sentence the more serious offences. Its effects are likely to be significant in cases where companies of substance are prosecuted and convicted.
What areas of law are affected?
Section 85 entirely removes the present upper limit on fines which can be imposed in a magistrates' court in almost all cases where the present maximum fine is £5,000 or more. This will affect in particular:
The effect is that magistrates will be able to impose a fine of an unlimited amount when sentencing summarily. If an offence can be tried either by magistrates or in the Crown Court, if the defendant decides to plead guilty at magistrates' appearance, they are highly likely to be sentenced in the magistrates' court under the new provisions.
Are there any limitations on Section 85?
The Criminal Practice Direction XIII Annex 3 directs that cases involving among other things death or major environmental damage and/or which are of great public interest should be committed to the Crown Court by the magistrates.
The new power to impose an unlimited fine on summary sentencing applies only to offences committed on or after 12th March 2015. Offences committed before that date will continue to be sentenced on the basis of the maximum fine available to magistrates (typically £5,000, £20,000 or £50,000) under the previous regime.
If you wish to find out more about how Section 85 LASPO could affect your organisation please phone our London office on 0207 993 6960.
Fisher Scoggins Waters is a leading construction, engineering and manufacturing litigation firm, specialising in disputes and disasters. For further information on this article or any of our litigation services, please contact us on: +44 (0) 207 993 6960.