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As I see it, there are 2 fundamental problems with private parking penalties.

The problem which is most obvious to the man on the Clapham omnibus is the level of the penalties.

What is IMHO far more fundamental is that the law as it has stood for well over a hundred years has outlawed penalties under contract law and in a nutshell defined them as a charge on breach primarily intended to deter breach. If we are correct, not only is there no basis in law for these penalties, but the PPCs demanding payment of these penalties are committing a number of serious criminal offences simply by demanding them.

Presumably most of the readers of this article will have some understanding of the basic differences between civil law and criminal law. Civil law is about putting the injured party back in the position that he would have been in if it were not for the injury and specifically prohibits betterment (and penalties). Criminal law is about punishing offenders to deter offending.

If Parliament, having made proper enquiries, determined that it was appropriate and decided to legislate for penalties to be issued for parking on private land (as they have done for railway car parks, etc.) then the penalties would not be a perversion of contract law, but their own entity. There would still potentially be concerns over the level of the penalties and the issues bound to arise when those who enforce criminal sanctions are allowed to profit from them, but the fundamental unlawfulness and perversion of the law of contract which ought to concern any man who both knows the law and has principles would not be an issue,

That is not however to say that legislating for penalties for parking on private land is something that should happen. The point is that it has not happened, and unlawful penalties should not be upheld by the courts on the basis that there might or might not be an underlying problem which would require legislation to properly address.

There is also the question of whether it would be right for Parliament to 'reward' PPCs who have been acting criminally by legislating to enable them to carry on with the law's blessing. And for that matter, whether PPCs who have based their entire business models on these practices could be considered to be fit and proper people to be entrusted with powers to issue quasi-criminal penalties.