Court of Appeal JudgmentMoJ denied that it was liable for the actions of a self-employed enforcement agent, contrary to its own guidelines.
What I really struggle with is why on Earth would you use civil enforcement for a criminal fine?? Surely sending officers empowered to bash the door in and arrest the offender is far more effective?
Are they not enforced by a person authorised under s 63(2) of the Courts, Tribunals and Enforcement Act 2007?
That's my point, why use civil powers with all the associated limitations? Enforcement agents using civil powers can do very little if one has a car on finance and simply refuses to open the door, on the other hand HMCTS officers or police with a bench warrant for non-payment of fines can just bash the door in, and explain to the debtor that if he doesn't pay up he will be arrested and taken into custody. Those are powers the likes of DCBL can only dream of, so why not use them?
I have no idea what powers are available to the Magistrates Court post-2007.
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