Filenews 9 April 2022 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
Fines for traffic offences exceeding €17.5 million have been imposed by the courts in the last four years, of which only a third was paid.
According to data cited in Parliament by the Minister of Justice Stefi Drakou, after a question by the MP of DIPA Marinos Mousiouttas, in the last four years courts in Cyprus issued 67,579 warrants for the payment of a fine for the total amount of €17,659,632. From this amount, the amount of €6,034,938 was paid, while amounts for €11,624,694 are pending for collection. As the data show, every year warrants are issued for fines imposed by courts on drivers for traffic offences that either had to be paid out of court and were not paid, or the offences were such that only judicially regulated.
The data show that in 2018, 14,241 payment orders were issued by courts for the amount of €3,753,302, the amount of €1,657,269 was paid, while the collection of another €2,096,033 is pending.
For 2019, 15,690 warrants were issued, for the total amount of €4,330,455. €1,625.16 was collected and an amount of €2,705,287 is pending for collection. For 2020, 18,771 warrants were issued for the amount of €4,968,688. €1,548.95 was collected, while an amount of €3,419,731 is pending for collection. For 2021, 18,877 warrants were issued for €4,607,187, warrants amounting to €1,203,543 were executed and warrants of €3,403,643 remain pending for collection.
From these data it becomes clear that some are either unable to pay their extrajudicial documents and end up in the courts, unknown when they will pay them, while there are also some strategic bad payers who avoid paying consciously until they are identified by the Police.
The Minister, however, admits that from the information she has from the Police, it is not possible to know how many warrants that belong to the category "Traffic Police", concern "Z" rental cars.
