A trip to court is about to get more expensive. (CBC)

Lawbreakers on P.E.I. are facing big increases in the court fees attached to the fines they are levied.

Deep in the last month's provincial budget is a line under the Department of Justice for court fees. The amount collected from fines and fees is expected to more than triple, from $155,000 last year to more than half a million dollars this year.

"From now on if you get a summary offence ticket for example, there's a $50 administrative fee on every ticket," said Justice Minister Janice Sherry.

Those offences include violations such as speeding and failure to wear a seatbelt. Some fines of the affected fines are now less than the administrative fees attached to them.

The province is also adding a $10 delinquent fee on overdue tickets. Sherry said that's an effort to get more people to pay their fines. Her latest figures show government is owed more than $1.6 million in unpaid fines.

Sherry said the fee increase is an experiment, and she isn't sure whether the proposed fee increases will help or hurt that bottom line.

"You're always evaluating the work that you're doing, the changes that you're making, to see whether they're being effective," she said.

"We'll evaluate it over a period of time and see if there's any negative impacts from it."

Costs are increasing, said Sherry, and some of the fees haven't been changed for years.

The new court fee structure will likely be in place within the next month.