ADMISSION OF GUILT FINES TO UNCLOG COURTS AND PRISONS

The justice ministry's national restructuring of admission of guilt fines
for offences such as theft, the possession of dagga and less serious
charges of assault should further unclog the courts and prisons, lawyers say.

Cape Law Society President Taswell Papier said admission of guilt fines of
up to R5 000 for these offences were already being implemented in the
Western Cape, and the justice ministry's new initiative to extend and
restructure the fines would help reduce the "clogging up of our court rolls".

The ministry's initiative will be implemented nationally later this year.
It is already operating in KwaZulu-Natal.

The admission of guilt fines apply to first-time offenders for theft,
possession of dagga or stolen goods, fraud, forgery, perjury, assault,
crimen injuria, public indecency, negligent driving and damage to property.

"This could have a dramatic impact on the administration of justice and
achieving a more cost-effective system," said Papier.

"It is further developing our pre-trial criminal justice system, and if
correctly implemented should significantly reduce awaiting trail prisoners
causing overcrowding in the prisons and unnecessarily escalating costs at
the expense of the taxpayer."

The fines would avoid:

The cost of incarceration, feeding and accommodating the person.

Transportation to and from court.

Recording the arrival of the person at court.

Drafting the charge sheet and allocating the matter to a court.

Placing the matter on the roll and bringing it before court.

"Any person still has the right to access the courts. . The admission of
guilt fines only apply to those who admit guilt and prefer to finalise the
matter without delay."

Director of public prosecutions Rodney de Kock said yesterday: "The
offenders do not have to physically appear in court if they pay the fine at
the clerk of the court's office. The payment serves as the sentence."

According to the initiative, possession of 150g of dagga warrants a fine of
about R1 000, while receiving stolen property valued at between R1000 and
R2 000 could cost an offender R5 000. Public indecency such as stripping,
streaking and exhibitionism could cost R300.

De Kock said the amount was decided by the prosecutors and the director of
public prosecutor's office in consultation with the chief magistrate. They
could decide on fines of up to R5 000 for individual cases.

"If the person is in possession of very small amounts of dagga and is not a
drug dealer, then the fine would apply," De Kock said.

He said the admission of guilt fines would lessen the number of court cases
and not waste court time. It gave the court time to deal with other matters.