The amount related to uncollected fine warrants in the Republic of Cyprus is causing concern.
According to official data from the Ministry of Justice, the total amount is €300 million, with €256 million related to debts owed to the state.
These uncollected fines span 43 years (since 1980).
Over time, there has been a significant increase in the number of pending fines for various reasons, raising reasonable concerns.
This escalating problem for the Cypriot state is highlighted through an official inquiry submitted by Member of Parliament Nikos Georgiou to then-Justice Minister Anna Prokopiou-Koukkides, which was answered shortly before she handed over the portfolio of the Ministry of Justice.
The inquiry was made during a discussion in the parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs last October 18, 2023, during which some rough data were presented.
Civil debts, municipal debts, fines
According to the responses to the eight points raised by the MP, the number of uncollected fines from 1980 until today is 293,150, corresponding to €300,211,453.
The majority of this enormous amount pertains to debts owed to the state.
Specifically, €256,536,949 is related to civil debts, debts to municipal authorities, the Cyprus Tourism Organization, Social Insurance, the Department of Water Development, Income Tax, as well as fines for various criminal offenses, military court convictions, and traffic violations.
The majority of uncollected warrants are related to traffic offenses (105,737 fines – €28,272,709), obligations to municipal authorities (51,327 – €18,037,412), and various criminal offenses (48,793 – €35,511,759).
€191 million to individuals
Out of the total amount of €300,211,453, €191,536,738 (261,397) are fines imposed on individuals, while €108,674,715 is the debts of legal entities, namely companies and other business entities.
From 55 to 22,053 uncollected fines
The tables provided by the Ministry of Justice in its response are informative about the rapid expansion of the problem.
Since 1995, there has been a continuous increase in the number of uncollected fine warrants.
It is indicative that in that specific year, the Police had recorded 55 uncollected fine warrants, while in 2023 (until November), the corresponding number was 22,053.
The numbers presented on this issue do not seem to inspire optimism regarding the collection of these fines.
Specifically, the outstanding warrants that are in suspension/payment settlement with installments are 22,919, corresponding to €21,009,070.
In relation to the total uncollected fines, the number of those who have arranged for settlement is small. As noted in the Ministry’s response to the DISY MP, “citizens who have debts are given the opportunity to arrange the payment of their pending warrants, following their request to the Attorney General of the Republic, thereby exercising their right to suspend and settle the payment of the due amount in monthly installments.”
It is also noted that individuals called to pay the fine warrants are sometimes deceased.
There are 252 fines corresponding to €277,852. Furthermore, 76 fine warrants (€166,310) concern companies that have declared bankruptcy.
Separate registry
In his inquiry to the Ministry, the MP raises the issue of maintaining a separate registry for fines that are “unenforceable by the Republic.”
The response given is that “this question concerns the Court, as when a warrant is returned by the Police, the Court, as the owner of the warrant, is responsible for deciding whether to close it or reassign it to the Police, knowing that the warrant cannot be executed.”
The issue of outstanding non-judicial fines once again engaged the Audit Service in its recent audit of the Police Force.
In a special report dated 30/11/2023, it noted the following on the contentious issue: “We requested a list of outstanding fines that have not been collected within the deadline and have been referred for judicial measures, but the case was subsequently withdrawn without collecting any amount. The Police provided us with partial information; however, in violation of the Constitution, it refused to provide us with the names and details of the persons who were relieved of the obligation to pay the outstanding fine, as well as information on the value of the outstanding fines by category classification and the offense related to each outstanding fine. As a result, our audit in this area was not possible.”
Regarding this issue, the Audit Service, in its report under review, identified, among other things:
- Many non-judicial summons are issued incorrectly due to technical problems with the equipment used, resulting in a need for their subsequent cancellation.
- A large number of non-judicial fines remain unpaid for a very long period without the prescribed procedures for the summoning of debtors to court being pursued. Many of these concern non-judicial fines issued by the new photo-enforcement system.
- 35% of non-judicial fines issued by the photo-enforcement system have not yet been received by violators. Of this percentage, more than half were issued in the first half of 2022.
- After the administrative audits of our Service in 2017 and 2021, there is a relative stabilization in the number of unexecuted warrants and a small reduction in their value. However, both their number and value remain at high levels.
