Police will soon be able to issue fixed 50 and 100 pound penalty notices for minor offences other than traffic.
Police will soon be able to issue fixed 50 and 100 pound penalty notices for minor offences other than traffic.
These include offences such as breaches of the peace, disorderly conduct, and noise.
A fixed penalty notice is often colloquially, and mistakenly, described as an ‘on the spot fine’.
The difference is that an FPN does not imply guilt or conviction, and there is always an opportunity to reject the notice, and be tried in court.
The public is already familiar with these notices because they are issued by parking wardens and police for traffic offences.
But soon they will be available to police for other offences too – minor ones which would ordinarily result in a small fine in court.
Justice Minister Samantha Sacramento says these notices will provide the Royal Gibraltar Police with a quick and effective means of dealing with low level nuisance behaviour.
She says we are following the UK’s lead on this, and expects the new law to free up Police and Court resources, allowing them to focus on more serious matters.
