Property News · March 27, 2018

Taking action for those jailed over unpaid council tax | Letters


Angela Rafferty QC and 57 others note that significant numbers of people are being unlawfully imprisoned for non-payment of council tax. They think this is likely to be one of the largest mass miscarriages of justice in British historyThe current council tax system is not only “highly regressive” because of its weak links to property values as suggested in Phillip Inman’s article (Report, 20 March). Since council tax replaced the community charge in 1992, thousands of people in England and Wales have been jailed for not having paid their council tax. Unlike most other civil debts, people who fail to pay their council tax can be brought before criminal courts and imprisoned, despite having committed no actual crime.Even more worryingly, evidence now shows that year after year there have been significant numbers of people being unlawfully imprisoned for non-payment of council tax. The high court recently acknowledged, in a claim for judicial review brought by a single mother caring for an elderly neighbour, that between 9.5% and 18% of people imprisoned for council tax non-payment are sent there unlawfully. This is likely to be one of the largest mass miscarriages of justice in British history. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Taking action for those jailed over unpaid council tax | Letters

You may also like...