Korean Citizens’ Attitudes Toward Income-Based Fines

Several European countries use income-based fines (i.e., day, unit, or structured fines). Under this system, a judge imposes a fine based on the offense's seriousness and the offender's income. Proponents argue that income-based fines promote equality in punishment and reduce unnecessary imprisonment resulting from fine defaults. However, opponents argue that income-based fines lead to inequality in punishment and are challenging to implement due to problems accessing an offender's assets. Based on these arguments, this study uses the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice survey to explore Koreans' attitudes and factors relevant to supporting income-based fines (n = 1,063). The findings suggest that most respondents support income-based fines, primarily because income-based fines enhance punishment equality by accounting for or incorporating one's financial status.