MPs and Peers told, it’s time for a Covid fine amnesty

The APPG on Pandemic Response and Recovery has heard concerns from barrister Francis Hoar about on-going legal action against individuals relating to alleged Covid breaches.

Francis Hoar, a top rated public lawyer, acted in many judicial reviews of Covid regulations including travel restrictions and mandatory vaccination of care home and NHS workers. He advocated for a general and complete amnesty for all Covid lockdown law breaches.

Francis said: “What we saw in 2020 was a drastic suspension of civil liberties and the criminalisation of ordinary and necessary human behaviour. It was clear at the time and is certainly obvious now, with the benefit of hindsight, that none of these laws were needed or should ever have been imposed. I would, and did, argue they were unlawful.

“And worse, if you can’t afford to pay the fixed penalty notice - which could be as high as £10,000 - the individual may be summoned to court for prosecution for the original alleged offence and end up with a criminal record. So we have a two-tier system which discriminates against those without financial means.

“It is time for the courts to stop pursuing ‘offences’ under any of the Health Protection regulations. We must also have a retrospective erasure of Covid convictions and repayments of all fixed penalty notices and fines.”

The Group heard how over 29,000 people were given criminal convictions because they either contested or did not pay the fine. Nearly 120,000 people were issued with Fixed Penalty Notices in England and Wales, with 48% going to those aged between 18 and 24 years old.

Rt Hon Esther McVey MP, APPG co-chair commented: “We have heard how police forces imposing legislation with no training, consultation or consideration has resulted in a geographical lottery as to how penalties were handled. In some cases, fines were issued unlawfully. Worse still, many lives have been completely derailed by these wholly disproportionate fines and convictions.

“As I have been saying since 2020, Covid regulation was heavy handed and unnecessary. It was also extremely hard to keep up with the ever changing and badly explained laws. Those who faced criminal convictions have really suffered a lifetime penalty as job prospects inevitably suffer and travel visas become difficult to obtain. 

“These fines, like the Leeds students fined £10,000 for organising a snowball fight, were disproportionate and have now been proved totally unnecessary. It’s time to do the right thing and wipe the slate clean on all of these Covid offences.”

Biography of the speaker:

Barrister Francis Hoar is a top rated public lawyer and election lawyer. In March 2020, Francis acted for the claimant in the judicial review challenging the lawfulness of the original lockdown regulations imposed as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, the landmark case of R (Dolan) v Secretary of State that was decided in the Court of Appeal in December 2020 – a case largely based on Francis’s legal opinion published (before the claim was brought) in April 2020. He acted in 8 other judicial reviews of regulations imposing travel regulations and mandatory vaccination of care home and NHS workers and of the lawfulness of child vaccination policies; in a successful High Court appeal against the GMC’s restriction of the freedom of expression of a GP; and, in the Court of Appeal, in the leading case on freedom of speech in professional disciplinary cases.