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The UK government is going to stop the payment of Criminal Court Charges for those tried in court. Will those who have already paid these charges now get their money back, and will those charged before the new rule applies have to pay?

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    I'd predict not for the retroactive part on the basis that retroactivity tends to be frowned upon in common law countries.
    – Pat W. ♦
    Dec 5, 2015 at 14:55

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The Howard League for Penal Reform, who I presume are well informed about the subject, issued a press release including the following:

“There remains the problem of people who have had the criminal courts charge imposed on them, many of whom will simply not be able to pay. We call on magistrates to exercise compassion and common sense when these unfortunate people are returned to court.”

So the answer is yes, unless they can convince a magistrate that the charge is unaffordable when they get hauled back to court for non-payment.

As the abolition of the charge was done by secondary legislation, I doubt there would be powers to act retroactively, even if this was thought desirable.

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