A court of summary jurisdiction in determining the amount of any fine to be imposed on an offender shall take into consideration, amongst other things, the means of the offender so far as known to the court.

Where a court of summary jurisdiction imposes a fine on an offender, the court may order him to be searched, and any money found on him on apprehension or when so searched or when taken to prison or to a F1young offenders institution in default of payment of the fine, may, unless the court otherwise directs, be applied towards payment of the fine, and the surplus if any shall be returned to him:

When a court of summary jurisdiction, which has adjudged that a sum of money shall be paid by an offender, shall consider that any money found on the offender on apprehension, or after he has been searched by order of the court, should not be applied towards payment of such sum, the court shall make a direction in writing to that effect which shall be written on the extract of the sentence which imposes the fine before the same is issued by the clerk of the court.

An accused may make an application to such a court either orally or in writing, through the governor of the prison in whose custody he may be at the time, that any sum of money which shall have been found on his person should not be applied in payment of the fine adjudged to be paid by him.

A person who alleges that any money found on the person of an offender is not the property of the offender, but belongs to such person, may apply to such court either orally or in writing for a direction that such money should not be applied in payment of the fine adjudged to be paid, and the court after enquiry may so direct.

A court of summary jurisdiction, which has adjudged that a sum of money shall be paid by an offender, may order the attendance in court of the offender, if he is in prison, for the purpose of ascertaining the ownership of money which shall have been found on his person.

A notice in the form, as nearly as may be, of the appropriate form contained in an Act of Adjournal under this Act, addressed to the governor of the prison in whose custody an offender may be at the time, signed by the judge of a court of summary jurisdiction shall be a sufficient warrant to the governor of such prison for conveying the offender to the court.

Where the court remits the whole or part of a fine after imprisonment has been imposed under section 396(2) or (4) of this Act, it shall also remit the whole period of imprisonment or, as the case may be, reduce the period by an amount which bears the same proportion to the whole period as the amount remitted bears to the whole fine.

The power conferred by subsection (1) above shall be exercisable without requiring the attendance of the accused.

Where a court of summary jurisdiction has imposed a fine on an offender or ordered him to find caution, the court shall, subject to the provisions of the next following subsection, allow him at least seven days to pay the fine or the first instalment thereof or, as the case may be, to find caution; and any reference in this and the next following section to a failure to pay a fine or other like expression shall include a reference to a failure to find caution.

In all cases where time is not allowed by a court of summary jurisdiction for payment of a fine, the reasons of the court for not so allowing time shall be stated in the extract of the finding and sentence as well as in the finding and sentence itself.

Where time is allowed for payment of a fine or payment by instalments is ordered, a court of summary jurisdiction shall not, on the occasion of the imposition of a fine, impose imprisonment in the event of a future default in paying the fine or an instalment thereof unless the offender is before it and the court determines that, having regard to the gravity of the offence or to the character of the offender, or to other special reason, it is expedient that he should be imprisoned without further inquiry in default of payment; and where a court so determines, it shall state the special reason for its decision.

Where a court of summary jurisdiction has imposed imprisonment in accordance with the provisions of the last foregoing subsection, then, if at any time the offender asks the court to commit him to prison, the court may do so notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section.

Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall affect any power of a court of summary jurisdiction to order a fine to be recovered by civil diligence.

Where time has been allowed for payment of a fine imposed by a court of summary jurisdiction, the court may, subject to any rules under this part of this Act, on an application by or on behalf of the offender, and after giving the prosecutor an opportunity of being heard, allow further time for payment.

An application by an offender for further time in which to pay a fine adjudged to be paid by him by a court of summary jurisdiction, or of instalments thereof, shall be made to that court, except in a case where a transfer of fine order shall have been made under section 403 of this Act F3, under F4section 90 of the M1Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 or under F5Article 95 of the M2Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 in which case the application shall be made to the court specified in the transfer order, or to the court specified in the last transfer order where there is more than one transfer.

A court to which an application is made under the foregoing subsection shall allow further time for payment of the fine or of instalments thereof, unless it is satisfied that the failure of the offender to make payment has been wilful or that the offender has no reasonable prospect of being able to pay if further time is allowed.

An application made under this section to a court of summary jurisdiction may be made orally or in writing.

Where a court of summary jurisdiction has imposed a fine or ordered the finding of caution without imposing imprisonment in default of payment, it shall not impose imprisonment on an offender for failing to make payment of the fine, unless on an occasion subsequent to that sentence the court has enquired into F16in his presence the reason why the fine has not been paid; but this subsection shall not apply where the offender is in prison.

On the failure of the offender to appear before the court in response to a citation under this section, the court may issue a warrant of apprehension.

A warrant of apprehension issued by a court of summary jurisdiction under subsection (2) of this section shall be in the form, as nearly as may be, of the appropriate form contained in an Act of Adjournal under this Act.

The minute of procedure in relation to an enquiry into the means of an offender under this section shall be in the form, as nearly as may be, of the appropriate form contained in an Act of Adjournal under this Act.

Without prejudice to the operation of section 396(2) of this Act, where a court of summary jurisdiction has imposed a fine on an offender, the court may, of its own accord or on the application of the offender, order payment of that fine by instalments of such amounts and at such time as it may think fit, . . . F6.

The powers conferred by subsection (2) above shall be exercisable without requiring the attendance of the accused.

Where an offender has been allowed time for payment of a fine by a court of summary jurisdiction, the court may, either on the occasion of the imposition of the fine or on a subsequent occasion, order that he be placed under the supervision of such person as the court may from time to time appoint for the purpose of assisting and advising the offender in regard to payment of the fine.

An order made in pursuance of the foregoing subsection shall remain in force so long as the offender to whom it relates remains liable to pay the fine or any part of it unless the order ceases to have effect or is discharged under the next following subsection.

An order under this section shall cease to have effect on the making of a transfer of fine order under section 403 of this Act in respect of the fine or may be discharged by the court that made it without prejudice, in either case, to the making of a new order.

Where an offender under 21 years of age has been allowed time for payment of a fine by a court of summary jurisdiction, the court shall not order the form of detention appropriate to him in default of payment of the fine unless he has been placed under supervision in respect of the fine or the court is satisfied that it is impracticable to place him under supervision.

Where a court being satisfied as aforesaid, orders the detention of a person under 21 years of age without an order under this section having been made, the court shall state the grounds on which it is so satisfied.

Where an order under this section is in force in respect of an offender, the court shall not impose imprisonment in default of the payment of the fine unless the court has, before so doing, taken such steps as may be reasonably practicable to obtain from the person appointed for the supervision of the payment of his fine a report, which may be oral, on the offender’s conduct and means, and shall consider any report so obtained in addition, in a case where an enquiry is required by section 398 of this Act, to that enquiry.

When a court of summary jurisdiction shall have made an order under subsection (1) of this section placing an offender under the supervision of another person, a notice shall be sent by the clerk of the court to such offender in the form, as nearly as may be, of the appropriate form contained in an Act of Adjournal under this Act.

The person appointed to supervise such an offender shall communicate with him with a view to assisting and advising him in regard to payment of the fine, and unless the same or any instalment thereof shall have been paid to the clerk of the court within the time allowed by the court for payment, the person so appointed shall report to the court without delay after the expiry of such time, as to the conduct and means of the offender.

Where under the provisions of section 396 or 400 of this Act a court is required to state a special reason for its decision or the grounds on which it is satisfied that it is undesirable or impracticable to place an offender under supervision, the reason or, as the case may be, the grounds shall be entered in the record of the proceedings along with the finding and sentence.

Any reference in the sections last mentioned to imprisonment shall be construed, in the case of an offender on whom by reason of his age imprisonment may not lawfully be imposed, as a reference to the lawful form of detention in default of payment of a fine appropriate to that person, and any reference to prison shall be construed accordingly.

Where a warrant has been issued for the apprehension of an offender for non-payment of a fine, the offender may, notwithstanding section 412 of this Act, pay such fine in full to a constable; and the warrant shall not then be enforced and the constable shall remit the fine to the clerk of court.

An order under this section (in this section referred to as a transfer of fine order) shall specify the court by which or the petty sessions area F19or petty sessions district in which payment is to be enforceable and, where the court to be specified in a transfer of fine order is a court of summary jurisdiction, it shall, in any case where the order is made by the sheriff court, be a sheriff court.

Where a transfer of fine order is made with respect to any fine under this section, any functions under any enactment relating to that sum which, if no such order had been made, would have been exercisable by the court which made the order or by the clerk of that court shall cease to be so exercisable.

Where a transfer of fine order F20under this section, F21section 90 of the M4Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 or F22Article 95 of the M5Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 specifies a court of summary jurisdiction in Scotland, that court and the clerk of that court shall have all the like functions under this Part of this Act in respect of the fine or the sum in respect of which that order was made (including the power to make any further order under this section) as if the fine or the sum were a fine imposed by that court and as if any order made under this section F20, F21the said Act of 1980 or F22the said Order of 1981 in respect of the fine or the sum before the making of the transfer of fine order had been made by that court:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F24

Where a transfer of fine order under F25section 90 of the M6Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980F26Article 95 of the M7Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 or this section provides for the enforcement by a sheriff court in Scotland of a fine imposed by the Crown Court, F23. the term of imprisonment which may be imposed under this Part of this Act shall be the term fixed in pursuance of section 31 of the M8Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973 by the Crown Court or a term which bears the same proportion to the term so fixed as the amount of the fine remaining due bears to the amount of the fine imposed by that court, notwithstanding that the term exceeds the period applicable to the case under section 407 of this Act.

Where a court of summary jurisdiction makes a transfer of fine order under section 403 of this Act, the clerk of the court shall send to the clerk of the court specified in the order a notice in the form, as nearly as may be, of the appropriate form contained in an Act of Adjournal under this Act, and shall at the same time send to that clerk a statement of the offence of which the offender was convicted, and of the steps if any which shall have been taken to recover the fine, and shall give him such further information if any as, in his opinion, is likely to assist the court specified in the order in recovering the fine.

In the case of a further transfer of fine order the clerk of the court which shall have made the order shall send to the clerk of the court by which the fine was imposed a copy of the notice which shall have been sent to the clerk of the court specified in the order.

The clerk of the court specified in a transfer of fine order shall, as soon as may be after he has received the notice prescribed in subsection (1) of this section, send an intimation to the offender in the form, as nearly as may be, of the appropriate form contained in an Act of Adjournal under this Act.

The clerk of the court specified in a transfer of fine order shall remit or otherwise account for any payment received in respect of the fine, to the clerk of the court by which the fine was imposed, and if the sentence shall have been enforced otherwise than by payment of the fine, he shall inform the clerk of that court how the sentence was enforced.

Subject to the following subsections of this section, the maximum period of imprisonment which may be imposed under subsection (1) above or for failure to find caution, shall be as follows—

Where an offender is fined on the same day before the same court for offences charged in the same complaint or in separate complaints, the amount of the fine shall, for the purposes of this section, be taken to be the total of the fines imposed.

If in any sentence or extract sentence the period of imprisonment inserted in default of payment of a fine or on failure to find caution is in excess of that competent under this Part of this Act, such period of imprisonment shall be reduced to the maximum period under this Part of this Act applicable to such default or failure, and the judge who pronounced the sentence shall have power to order the sentence or extract to be corrected accordingly.

The periods of imprisonment set forth in F30subsection (1A) of this section shall apply to the non-payment of any sum imposed as aforesaid by a court of summary jurisdiction under a statute or order passed or made before the first day of June 1909, notwithstanding that that statute or order fixes any other period of imprisonment.

The provisions of this section shall be without prejudice to the operation of section 409 of this Act.

Where a person committed to prison or otherwise detained for failure to pay a fine imposed by a court of summary jurisdiction pays to the governor of the prison, under conditions prescribed by rules made under the M3Prisons (Scotland) Act 1952, any sum in part satisfaction of the fine, the term of imprisonment shall be reduced F10(or as the case may be further reduced) by a number of days bearing as nearly as possible the same proportion to such term as the sum so paid bears to the amount of the fine outstanding at the commencement of the imprisonment:

• F10Provided that the day on which any sum is paid shall not be regarded as a day served by the prisoner as part of the said term of imprisonment.

In this section references to a prison and to the governor thereof shall include respectively references to any other place in which a person may be lawfully detained in default of payment of a fine, and to an officer in charge thereof.

Provision may be made by Act of Adjournal for the application of sums paid under this section and for any matter incidental thereto.

The provision of Schedule 7 to this Act shall apply for the purposes of this section.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F14

Proceedings by civil diligence under this section may be adopted at any time after the imposition of the fine to which they relate: