Chapter 14: The magistrates’ court

• 1. Introduction
• The role of the adviser
• 2. Financial penalties
• Compensation orders
• Payments
• Transfer of fines
• Remitting fines
• Lodging fines
• Means enquiry
• Fixing a return date
• Varying and setting aside a financial penalty
• 3. Enforcing a financial penalty
• Collection order
• If the client is an existing defaulter
• If the client is not an existing defaulter
• Attachment of earnings orders
• Deductions from benefits
• Varying the terms of a collection order
• If the attachment of earnings order or deductions from benefits fails
• If the client defaults on the collection order
• Registration of the financial penalty
• Appeals and referrals
• Warrant of control
• The use of enforcement agents (bailiffs)
• Clamping order
• Money payments supervision order
• Imprisonment
• Short local detention
• Attendance centre order
• High Court and county court orders
• 4. Council tax
• Liability orders
• Issuing an order
• After the liability order is made
• Setting aside a liability order
• Committal to prison
• Outcome of the committal hearing
• 5. Committal to prison

This chapter looks at how the magistrates’ court operates as both a creditor and a collector of debts.