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Closed Remove the new Court Charge imposed in March 2015

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The government introduced a new court charge in March 2015 which means that everyone convicted of a crime at a court of law has to pay a court charge. This means that for trivial of offences if you go to court you could pay over £1000 in financial penalties. PUNISHMENTS SHOULD FIT THE CRIME!

If you plead not guilty to a summary only (magistrates court) offence and are found guilty after trial you will pay a court charge of £750. With prosecution costs and the victim surcharge this means that you can pay well over £1,000 for not paying for a Mars bar. Yet you use a mobile phone whilst driving or drive at excessive speeds and get a penalty of £100. This is clearly wrong as sentencing guidelines for magistrates say that the punishment should be relevant to the offence.

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    This petition will stay open until 28 February 2016.