What Safeguards are in Place?

A fixed penalty notice under The Health Protection (Restrictions) (Coronavirus) (Scotland) offers the person to whom it is issued the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction for the offence by payment of a fixed penalty in accordance with these Regulations.

Generally, it will be appropriate for a police officer to issue a fixed penalty notice in circumstances in which they would otherwise have considered submitting a report to the Procurator Fiscal for a minor fixed penalty offence.

If a person thinks that they have been issued with a fixed penalty unfairly, they should contact Police Scotland and let them know that they dispute it. It should be noted that were an individual has paid the fine then a FPN can no longer be challenged as the disposal is then complete.

Once this refusal has been communicated to the police, a report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal for consideration. If the Procurator Fiscal decides that the case should proceed, the individual may be cited to appear in court. If this happens, the FPN recipient will have the opportunity to challenge the allegation.