Wealthy residents should pay higher fines: majority
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Published: 5 Aug, 2014 CET.
Updated: Tue 5 Aug 2014 10:35 CET
The Socialist People's Party thinks that those who violate the law should be fined according to their income level. The proposal was greeted warmly by a majority of parliamentary parties.
Wealthier residents should pay higher fines when they break the law. That’s the gist of a proposal from the Socialist People’s Party (SF) that is gaining political momentum on both sides of the aisle. “I think it is fair that a fine has equal impact, regardless of whether you are unemployed or work at Maersk. If a fine should have a preventive effect, then it needs to be felt. Therefore, it is only fair that those who earn more should get a higher fine that those who earn less,” SF spokeswoman Karina Lorentzen told Berlingske. SF proposes that fines for tax and traffic violations, among others, be based on the offender’s income level. The party also thinks that fines aimed at businesses should also differ based on company size. “If a large company just gets a little fine, that gives companies today the option of making calculated risks in breaking the law. I think it would be a good principle to increase fines for those companies that have higher revenues,” Lorentzen said. Representatives of the governing Social Democrats and Social Liberals (Radikale), the left-wing Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) and the right-wing Danish People’s Party have all expressed openness to SF’s proposal, while opposition party Venstre is against the idea. “I think there would be unintended consequences that could mean, among other things, that some would get off easy with very small fines. That would have the complete opposite effect of the proposal’s intentions,” Venstre’s Karsten Lauritzen told Berlingske.
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Wealthier residents should pay higher fines when they break the law. That’s the gist of a proposal from the Socialist People’s Party (SF) that is gaining political momentum on both sides of the aisle.
“I think it is fair that a fine has equal impact, regardless of whether you are unemployed or work at Maersk. If a fine should have a preventive effect, then it needs to be felt. Therefore, it is only fair that those who earn more should get a higher fine that those who earn less,” SF spokeswoman Karina Lorentzen told Berlingske.
SF proposes that fines for tax and traffic violations, among others, be based on the offender’s income level. The party also thinks that fines aimed at businesses should also differ based on company size.
“If a large company just gets a little fine, that gives companies today the option of making calculated risks in breaking the law. I think it would be a good principle to increase fines for those companies that have higher revenues,” Lorentzen said.
Representatives of the governing Social Democrats and Social Liberals (Radikale), the left-wing Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) and the right-wing Danish People’s Party have all expressed openness to SF’s proposal, while opposition party Venstre is against the idea.
“I think there would be unintended consequences that could mean, among other things, that some would get off easy with very small fines. That would have the complete opposite effect of the proposal’s intentions,” Venstre’s Karsten Lauritzen told Berlingske.
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