Criminal Justice Act 1967

47 Fines imposed and recognizances forfeited at assizes and quarter sessions.

(1) A court of assize or quarter sessions by which a fine is imposed on any person or the recognizance of any person is forfeited shall, subject to the next following subsection, make an order under section 14(1) of the [1948 c. 58.] Criminal Justice Act 1948 (powers of courts of assize and quarter sessions in relation to fines and forfeited recognizances) fixing a term of imprisonment which that person is to undergo if the sum which he is liable to pay is not duly paid or recovered.

(2) No person shall on the occasion when a fine is imposed on him or his recognizance is forfeited by any such court be committed to prison in pursuance of such an order unless—

(a) in the case of an offence punishable with imprisonment, he appears to the court to have sufficient means to pay the sum forthwith ;

(b) it appears to the court that he is unlikely to remain long enough at a place of abode in the United Kingdom to enable payment of the sum to be enforced by other methods ; or

(c) on the occasion when the order is made the court sentences him to immediate imprisonment or detention in a detention centre for that or another offence, or sentences him as aforesaid for an offence in addition to forfeiting his recognizance, or he is already serving a term of imprisonment or detention in a detention centre.

(3) Subject to the provisions of subsection (8) of this section, a fine imposed or a recognizance forfeited by a court of assize or quarter sessions after the commencement of this Act shall be treated for the purposes of collection, enforcement and remission of the fine or other sum as having been imposed or forfeited—

(a) by a magistrates' court specified in an order made by the former court; or

(b) if no such order is made, by the magistrates' court by which the offender was committed to the former court to be tried or dealt with ;

and in the case of a fine as having been so imposed on conviction by the magistrates' court in question.

(4) Accordingly no proceedings shall be taken or other thing done in relation to a fine imposed, or sum due under a recognizance forfeited, after the commencement of this Act by a court of assize or quarter sessions under the [1822 c. 46.] Levy of Fines Act 1822, the [1823 c. 37.] Levy of Fines Act 1823, the [1833 c. 99.] Fines Act 1833 or the [1859 c. 21 (22 & 23 Vict.).] Queen's Remembrancer Act 1859.

(5) Where a fine is imposed or a recognizance forfeited by a court of assize or quarter sessions, the clerk of the court shall—

(a) as soon as practicable give particulars of the fine or recognizance to the clerk of the magistrates' court by which payment of the fine or the sum due under the recognizance is to be enforced ;

(b) at the end of the assizes or sessions at which the fine or recognizance is imposed or forfeited give those particulars to the Secretary of State, specifying the magistrates' court by which payment of the fine or other sum is to be enforced.

(6) The term of imprisonment specified in any warrant of commitment issued by a magistrates' court on a default in the payment of a fine imposed, or sum due under a recognizance forfeited, by a court of assize or quarter sessions as the term which the offender is liable to serve shall be the term fixed by the latter court or, if that term has been reduced under section 67(2) of the [1952 c. 55.] Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 (part payment) or section 44(10) of this Act, that term as so reduced, notwithstanding that that term exceeds the period applicable to the case under Schedule 3 to that Act or section 285 of the [1952 c. 44.] Customs and Excise Act 1952 (maximum periods of imprisonment in default of payment of fines, etc.).

(7) The foregoing provisions of this section shall apply in relation to a fine imposed or recognizance forfeited by the criminal division of the Court of Appeal, or by the House of Lords on appeal from that division, as they apply in relation to a fine imposed or recognizance forfeited by a court of assize or quarter sessions, and references in those provisions to a court of assize or quarter sessions and the clerk of the court shall be construed accordingly.

(8) A magistrates' court shall not under section 44(10) of this Act or section 96 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952, as applied by subsection (3) of this section, remit the whole or any part of a fine imposed or a sum due under a recognizance forfeited by a court of assize or quarter sessions, without the consent of—

(a) a judge of the Central Criminal Court, where the fine was imposed or the recognizance forfeited by that court;

(b) a judge of the Crown Court at Liverpool or the Crown Court at Manchester, as the case may require, where the fine was imposed or the recognizance forfeited by one of those courts;

(c) a judge of the High Court, where the fine was imposed or the recognizance forfeited by any court of assize (other than the Central Criminal Court or one of the said Crown Courts);

(d) the chairman or any deputy chairman, or the recorder or any deputy recorder, as the case may be, of a court of quarter sessions, where the fine was imposed or the recognizance forfeited by that court;

and the said section 44(10) shall have effect accordingly.

(9) A fine imposed or a recognizance forfeited by the criminal division of the Court of Appeal on appeal from a court of assize or quarter sessions or by the House of Lords on appeal from that division shall be treated for the purposes of collection, enforcement and remission of the fine or other sum as having been imposed or forfeited by that court of assize or quarter sessions.

(10) Any fine or other sum the payment of which is enforceable by a magistrates' court by virtue of this section shall be treated for the purposes of the [1949 c. 101.] Justices of the Peace Act 1949 and, in particular, section 27 thereof (application of fines imposed by magistrates' courts) as having been imposed by a magistrates' court, or as being due under a recognizance forfeited by such a court, and as being Exchequer moneys.

(11) All rights granted by the Crown, by charter or otherwise, to fines imposed or sums due under recognizances forfeited after the commencement of this Act by the High Court or courts of assize or quarter sessions are hereby extinguished and any such fines or sums which apart from the foregoing provision would be paid to the holders of such rights shall be paid into and retained in the Exchequer.

(12) The Treasury shall out of moneys provided by Parliament pay by way of compensation to the holder of any such right who has received any payment as such a holder during the period Of five years ending with 31st March 1967 an amount equal to three times the aggregate of the sums received by him in respect of fines imposed and recognizances forfeited in that period by the High Court or courts of assize or quarter sessions.