Any person guilty of an offence against section 35, 41 or 42 of this Act shall be liable, on conviction by a court of summary jurisdiction, F1to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

Proceedings under this section F2, other than in the district court, may be taken at the instance either of the public prosecutor of the court of summary jurisdiction in which the proceedings are to be taken or of another person authorised by the education authority to institute proceedings on their behalf.

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If the court before which a prosecution is brought for an offence against section 35 of this Act is satisfied that a child has failed without reasonable excuse to attend regularly at school, but does not, in the exercise of the powers conferred upon it by F4section 54(1) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, refer the matter to the Principal Reporter, the court may, if the child is still of school age, make an attendance order in respect of the child requiring the parent to cause the child to attend the public school which he has been attending or, if the child has changed his residence, a school attended by children residing in the same neighbourhood as the child; and subsections (2) and (3) of section 38 and sections 39 to 41 of this Act shall apply with any necessary modifications to an attendance order made by a court under this section as they apply to an attendance order made by an education authority.