Court to review stowaway fines
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• by Guy Sheppard The High Court is to decide whether fines imposed on hauliers for bringing illegal immigrants into the UK are in breach of human rights and European Unlon law.
Although the hearing will not take place until October, there is now a realistic prospect of scrapping or changing the penalty system much sooner than had been hoped.
Until now the best chance of mounting a legal challenge was through a General Litigation Order which would have collectively dealt with several appeals against the fines at Canterbury County Court.
But Jane George, a partner at solicitors Rothera Dawson, points out that the county court is not qualified to deal with the wider implications of the appeals. "This will cut out a stage in the process, which has got to be good for the hauliers,' she adds.
The breakthrough was achieved by London-based German lawyer Gunter Zimmer, acting for a German haulier whose vehicle was impounded after a £4,000 fine was imposed. The High Court granted an injunction to release the vehicle because the haulier's livelihood was threatened.
At the same time, the judge decided that the High Court was the best place to deal with the case—and that around a dozen other foreign companies can be represented by Zimmer at the same hearing.
"We believe the Act has got massive infringements of human rights and EU law," says Zimmer. He alleges that a disproportionate number of foreign hauliers are being singled out for the fines and that this is in breach of EU competition rules. He also plans to highlight the absurdity of fines being levied on finance and leasing companies which awn the vehicles involved.
Zimmer reports that the High Court judge has ruled that bodies such as the lnternationa Road Transport Union and thE Road Haulage Association will bE allowed to take part in the hear. ing. One High Court challenge tc the appeals procedure was mounted earlier this year or behalf of Italian haulier Balbc after it received £22,000 worth of fines (CM 8-14 Feb). But Zimmer says his firm has beer able to pin down much more pro. cisely where the Act infringes human rights and EU law.
• See next week for a featurt on the stowaway group action