A retired vicar who refused to pay council tax in protest against benefit cuts will appear in the High Court next week.
The Reverend Paul Nicolson will appear at the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday to seek a judicial review of a decision made by Tottenham magistrates ordering him to pay Haringey Council’s legal costs.
The clergyman says magistrates refused to tell him how they arrived at the “unlawful” £125 costs for a summons to late and non-payers of council tax at a hearing last August.
He argues that the fixed £125 figure charged by Haringey Borough Council is “excessive”, pointing out that Enfield Borough Council charges £70 for liability orders also heard at Tottenham Magistrates’ Court.
The court gave the council permission to increase the costs for a summons from £95 to £125 in March 2010.
The Rev Nicolson claims Freedom of Information requests reveal the magistrates made no inquiries about reasonableness when asked to increase the costs.
He said: “There is no record of that request or permission at HMCTS. No inquiries have been made by the magistrates before or since March 2010.”
The campaigning vicar received a liability order last August for his refusal to pay his council tax, which he says disproportionately affects those on low incomes.
The Rev Nicolson said: “I am claiming that the Haringey costs amount to an excessive and disproportionate penalty, rather than a genuine and rational contribution to costs, and as such are unlawful.”
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