In the United Kingdom, a fixed penalty notice (FPN) is a notice giving an individual the opportunity to be made immune from prosecution for an alleged criminal offence in exchange for a fee.[1] Fixed penalty notices were introduced in Britain in the 1980s to deal with minor parking offences. Originally used by police and traffic wardens, their use has extended to other public officials and authorities, as has the range of offences for which they can be used.
In recent years, this has taken the form of using them to give police and public authorities in England, Scotland and Wales a realistic weapon against anti-social behaviour. They are designed to reduce paperwork on police and council officers by allowing low-level anti-social behaviour to be dealt with on the spot. Newer types of notice exist for disorder, environmental crime, truancy and noise. A fixed penalty notice is not a fine or criminal conviction because of the distinction that the recipient can opt for the matter to be dealt with in court instead of paying. However, if the recipient neither pays the penalty nor opts for a court hearing in the time specified,[2] it may then be enforced by the normal methods used to enforce unpaid fines, including imprisonment in some circumstances.
Civil penalties such as penalty charge notices (PCNs) are similar legal constructs used for issuing on-the-spot fines. Unlike FPNs, civil penalties have an assumption of "guilty until proven innocent" with a burden being placed on the individual to appeal the fine. Civil penalties can be issued for property violations,[3] tax code violations [4] or illegal employment.[5] The appeal processes for PCNs tend to operate through tribunals.