Police issuing thousands of fines for breaking ‘unclear and ambiguous’ lockdown rules

The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) said it was “unacceptable” that “many thousands” were receiving fixed penalty notices (FPNs) despite evidence the police did not fully understand their powers and with no means of redress.

It said the way the regulations were being enforced by the police was having a “disproportionate impact” on young men from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds

Although FPNs could result in fines in excess of £10,000 there is currently no realistic way for people to challenge them.

“This will invariably lead to injustice as members of the public who have been unfairly targeted with an FPN have no means of redress and police will know that their actions are unlikely to be scrutinised,” the committee said.

It warned many of the regulations were “confusingly named” making it difficult for people to establish what they were and were not entitled to do.

With the regulations changing on average once a week, it called for greater clarity from the Government as to what was prohibited by the criminal law.

“More care must be taken by the Government to distinguish between advice, guidance and the law, in media announcements as well as in official online sources,” the committee said.

“In particular, more must be done to make the up to date regulations themselves (not only guidance) clearly accessible online, particularly as the law has changed, on average, once a week.

“It ought to be straightforward for a member of the public to find out what the current criminal law is, nationally and in their local area, without having to trawl through multiple sets of confusingly named regulations.”

Committee chair Harriet Harman said: “Confusion over what is law and what is merely guidance has left citizens open to disproportionate and unequal levels of punishment for breaking the rules, and unfortunately, it seems that once again, this is overtly affecting BAME individuals.

“The Government must learn from these mistakes to ensure that any additional lockdowns do not unfairly impact specific groups.”

Concerns about a lack of clarity with regard to lockdown rules have also been raised by the Police Federation of England and Wales. Earlier this month national chair John Apter said: “The Government needs to play its’ part. With so many changes in legislation, an effective public information campaign must be a priority – as there’s been so much confusion for the public and many people don’t know exactly what the law says.”

The JCHR said ministers should organise “a quick, interim review” into deaths from coronavirus to ensure key lessons were learnt in advance of any second peak in the autumn and winter.

A government spokesperson said it had worked closely with the police throughout the pandemic, and officers had enforced regulations only as a last resort.

They added: “Both Houses (of Parliament) have opportunities to scrutinise and debate all regulations, which must be approved by both Houses within 28 days to remain in force. This is the same way all lockdown regulations have been made and none have been voted down.”