Anaya Nolan
The fines for breaking Covid laws vary depending on the country and the nature of the offence. In the UK, fines for breaking Covid laws range from £100 for not wearing a mask to £10,000 for violating self-isolation rules. In Ontario, Canada, fines start at $750 for failing to comply with restrictions and can go up to $10 million for corporations. In Singapore, fines range from $300 for using condo facilities during the circuit breaker to $22,000 for providing sexual services in a beauty salon during the circuit breaker.
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What You'll Learn
- Fines for breaking Covid rules in NSW, Australia, could be cancelled after a major Supreme Court decision
- In the UK, fines for breaking Covid laws were handed out during the week of the Downing Street garden party
- In Ontario, Canada, fines for individuals who fail to comply with Covid restrictions start at $750
- In Singapore, a man was fined $1,500 for leaving home 30 minutes before his quarantine ended
- In the UK, a person can be fined £100 for not wearing a mask
Fines for breaking Covid rules in NSW, Australia, could be cancelled after a major Supreme Court decision
Fines for breaking Covid rules in New South Wales, Australia, could be cancelled after a landmark Supreme Court decision. The ruling, handed down on January 31, 2024, found that a $3,000 fine issued to a homeless woman, Angelika Kosciolek, for leaving Greater Sydney without a permit in 2021 was invalid as it did not state the specific Act that was breached, thus failing the "bare minimum" test. This ruling could have implications for 29,000 other Covid fines issued during the pandemic, which may also be invalid.
The "bare minimum" test, set out in a 2022 Supreme Court ruling, states that for a penalty notice to be valid, it must clearly indicate the relevant government act that it applies to and the provision related to the offence. Samantha Lee, a Senior Solicitor at the Redfern Legal Centre, which brought the case to court, stated that the judgment confirmed that "if a penalty is to be valid, it must have the Act or specify the offence".
Despite this ruling, the Commissioner of Fines Administration, Scott Johnston, has stated that Revenue NSW will continue to "review and treat every matter on a case-by-case basis" rather than withdrawing and repaying the fines. In response, Lee has called on Johnston to "come to his senses" and refund the fines, arguing that he is "refusing to honour a Supreme Court Judgement".
This is not the first time that Covid-19 fines have been thrown out in New South Wales. In November 2022, over 33,000 fines were withdrawn after a Supreme Court ruling found that two specific Covid-19 fines were invalid as they did not comply with the Fines Act 1999 (NSW). The court found that the penalty notices were "clearly insufficient" as they did not provide enough detail about the alleged offence, and thus, people who were fined were unable to know what offence they had committed.
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In the UK, fines for breaking Covid laws were handed out during the week of the Downing Street garden party
During the first lockdown in England, the government warned that it was considering tougher enforcement measures for anyone flouting the rules. On May 13, 2020, lockdown fines rose to £100, with a maximum of £3,200 for repeat offences. While a first offence would be lowered to £50 if paid within 14 days, the penalty doubled for each repeat offence.
Between May 15 and May 21, 2020, the week of the alleged Downing Street garden party, 807 fixed penalty notices for Covid rule breaches were issued. This was out of a total of 118,963 fines processed between March 27, 2020, and December 16, 2021.
At the time, people were only permitted to meet with one person from another household outdoors in public spaces, not private gardens. The government urged people not to visit friends and relatives in their homes or gardens.
Police could still issue retrospective fines to those who are found to have attended the Downing Street party, despite temporary powers to target mass gatherings during Covid lockdowns no longer existing.
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In Ontario, Canada, fines for individuals who fail to comply with Covid restrictions start at $750
- Individuals who fail to comply with the restrictions can be issued a minimum fine of $750.
- Those who obstruct an authority or individual from enforcing or complying with an order can receive a minimum fine of $1,000.
- Those who host parties or gatherings in violation of the regulations can face a maximum fine of $10,000 upon conviction.
- The total maximum penalty for an individual is $100,000 and up to one year in jail.
By-law officers are primarily focused on awareness and education but can issue fines to individuals who fail to comply with the orders under the Ontario Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. Fines are typically issued when verbal warnings are ineffective or in cases of repeat offenders.
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In Singapore, a man was fined $1,500 for leaving home 30 minutes before his quarantine ended
In Singapore, a 22-year-old man was fined $1,500 for leaving his home 30 minutes before his quarantine ended. The man, a financial advisor named Tay Chun Hsien, had been suspected of being a contact of Covid-19 and was ordered by the director of medical services to be isolated in his flat.
Tay left his Choa Chu Kang flat to have breakfast at a neighbourhood shopping mall. He walked for about seven minutes to a food court at Yew Tee Square in Choa Chu Kang Street 62, where he bought a meal and sat down to eat. At around 11.40 am, a Certis Cisco Security officer called Tay's mobile phone to check if he was home. Tay informed the officer that he had left his flat to buy food and was told to return home immediately. He complied and reached his home at around noon.
Tay pleaded guilty to an offence under the Infectious Diseases Act. The Deputy Public Prosecutor, Norman Yew, urged the court to sentence Tay to a fine of $1,500, stating that the risk of transmission in this case was low, and that Tay had spent a relatively short time outside his place of residence and had not travelled far. Tay's defence lawyer, Richard Siaw, argued that his client had mistakenly thought that the quarantine order ended at midnight on March 22 instead of noon that day.
The maximum penalty for offenders convicted of leaving their homes without the director of medical services' permission is a jail term of up to six months and a fine of up to $10,000. In this case, Tay was fined $1,500 for breaching his quarantine order.
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In the UK, a person can be fined £100 for not wearing a mask
While the fine for a first offence is £100, it doubles for each repeat offence, up to a maximum of £3,200. Repeat offenders also face criminal records.
The UK government introduced the fine as part of a package of laws that also banned inter-family communication and gatherings of more than six people. The laws were tightened after the number of new coronavirus cases increased sixfold in a month, with the number of cases doubling in the week before the fine was introduced.
The fine for not wearing a mask is part of a broader set of measures to prevent the spread of the virus, including lockdowns and social distancing. Evidence suggests that these measures were effective in reducing the spread of the virus. For example, a 2024 study estimated that a decline in mask usage in Japan may have caused an additional 3500 deaths.
While mask mandates are no longer politically and socially acceptable, some argue that, as we move away from the acute phase of the pandemic, we can more objectively promote the use of masks in public places.
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Frequently asked questions
The fine for breaking Covid laws in the UK has varied over time and depending on the specific law broken. In 2020, the fine for breaching Covid laws was £100 for a first offence, doubling for each repeat offence up to a maximum of £3,200. In 2024, the fine for violating self-isolation was £10,000 for a first offence, and employers who forced sick employees to come into the office could expect the same fine.
In Singapore, fines for breaking Covid laws have ranged from $300 to $22,000.
In Belize, a Covid-related offence could result in a fine of $505. However, under the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Amendment) Act of 2024, first-time offenders with unpaid Covid fines are no longer required to settle these debts.
In New South Wales, Australia, fines for breaking Covid laws have ranged from $1,000 to $3,000. A 2024 Supreme Court ruling stated that fines that do not specify the Act or offence that has been broken are invalid, meaning that 29,000 fines could be scrapped.
