Someone who has defrauded the welfare benefit system of thousands of euros should not be asked to pay a fine which they cannot come up with ‘within a reasonable period’, a senior court ruled on Monday.

Judges should take the financial situation of people more into account when assessing fines, the Central Court of Appeal is reported as saying by news agency ANP. This will prevent people having to live on a very low income for a long period, the court said.

One case dealt with on Monday concerned a man who had not revealed that he had a second bank account containing €22,000 when he applied for welfare benefits. He was fined €22,000 and ordered to repay the money plus a fine of €7,000.

Illegal income

The court reduced the fine to €2,510 and said the wrongly claimed benefit still had to be returned.

In a second case, a marijuana grower on welfare had his fine reduced from €4,600 to €2,349 for supplementing his income with illegal cannabis sales.

The central court of appeal is the final arbiter in this sort of case and there is no appeal.