THE Auditor-General has revealed that the Judicial Department is owed more than $12.6million in outstanding court fees.
These are fines and costs awarded to the State, and the Auditor-General warned that recovery efforts needed urgent attention.
The 2023 Report on the General Administration Sector tabled in Parliament last week stated that the arrears of revenue as at July 31, 2023 stood at $12,686,423.
The report stressed that “further delay in collecting the outstanding revenue increases the risk of revenue not likely to be collected, which may require writing it off, resulting in loss of revenue for the government”.
The Auditor-General recommended that the department “strengthen the Fine Enforcement Unit to recover the arrears of revenue from the defaulters” and “seek collaborative assistance in terms of recovery from Fiji Revenue and Customs Service, Police, Land Transport Authority, Immigration and Fiji National Provident Fund, considering the write-offs”.
It was also advised that the department upgrade its database to capture key information such as FNPF and Tax Identification Numbers, driver’s licence and passport details, “in order to easily track the defaulters.”
In its response, the Judicial Department acknowledged the problem: “The department is aware of the significant arrears of revenue. However, it has no authority or any control over the execution process, which is mainly vested with the Police Department”.
The department noted that a Fine Enforcement Unit has been set up and resources, including vehicles, have been provided to assist police officers in executing warrants and collecting arrears.
“When the officers from the Police Department are free, then they go for the execution of warrants,” the statement added.
The department has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Land Transport Authority and is currently reconciling records as part of its recovery efforts.