Offences charged under the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) Regulations

Your request and our responses appear below:  

FOI request re covid regulations: -

1. Does the CPS have statistics on how many people in England and Wales who were given covid fines decided to contest their cases in court rather than pay their fines automatically and how many were successful in contesting their fines and didn’t have to pay fines in the 18-month period from March 2020 when covid restrictions were in place.

Offences charged under the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) Regulations were ‘summary only’ offences which were punishable only by way of a fine and which the police were authorised to charge.  The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) were required to conduct the prosecution of only those cases where the fine was not paid within 28 days or where a not guilty plea was entered. The data held by the CPS does not make a distinction between the cases where a fine had been issued and not paid within 28 days, and those where a not guilty plea was entered.

Between April 2020 and October 2021 (18 months), the CPS reviewed a total 2,273 finalised cases charged under the Regulations to ensure that correct offences had been charged and prosecuted. “Finalised cases” were cases where a prosecution had either been stopped or concluded. It could include cases where the accused was found guilty, not guilty or where a guilty plea was entered and accepted. 

The CPS have interpreted your request for the number of people who “were successful in contesting their fines” to mean cases where the defendants were found not guilty after a trial. In the period from April 2020 and October 2021, there were 52 cases out of 2,273 where the accused was found not guilty after a trial in relation charges laid under the Regulations.

The figures provided above should be read in conjunction with the following caveats: - 

1. The response above is based on the latest the data we held for the finalised cases which the CPS reviewed as of October 2021. 
2. The numbers which we cite in this response are based on the number of cases, not the number of defendants, so in a case there can be more than one defendant and not all defendants might have the same outcome.

2. Is there any documentation publicly available on views expressed by members of the CPS on the civil liberties issues raised by covid restriction. My concern was that an unprecedented assault was launched on our civil liberties during the period covid regulations were in place. The entire population were classed as contagious disease vectors regardless with no evidence being necessary to support this and perfectly normal activities such as socialising and travelling were criminalized. Is there any record of any members of the CPS staff expressing similar concerns.

The CPS holds no recorded information within the scope of part two