MORE THAN $100 000 is owed to the law courts, in unpaid fines and "other monies imposed".

And Auditor-General Leigh Trotman has called for an investigation into the situation, as well as for the authorities to "implement necessary corrective measures to ensure that the records are up-to-date, so as to allow action to be taken to reduce these outstanding fines in a timely manner".

In his 2007 report Trotman wrote: "An analysis of Court Order Books at selected magistrates' courts revealed several instances where fines and other monies imposed by the Court were not paid within the time specified."

The unpaid fines, at March 31, 2007, at four courts were as follows:

District E – Speightstown – $30 000

District E – Holetown – $55 000

District D – $20 000 and

District A – Traffic – $7 000

It was also noted that some transactions were not properly accounted for.

"A number of discrepancies were observed in the accounting records of various Magistrates' courts. Amounts collected were neither brought to account in the cash books nor shown to have been paid into The Treasury," Trotman wrote.

In response, the Registration Department noted in the same document that it had "enlisted the assistance of the Accountant-General in designation and implementing a database to better manage the recording of judgments, and the receipt of fines applicable.

"In other areas, the management processes will be enhanced to bring about greater efficiency to the entire process of managing fees and fines within the courts.

"Thorough investigations will be carried out to determine the cause of these discrepancies with the view of instituting any corrective measures necessary," the department noted. (DS)