Increases of fines for certain summary offencesS
5(1)Subject to sub-paragraphs (3) to (8) and (10) below, this paragraph applies where any Act passed on or before 29th July 1977 (the date of the passing of the M1Criminal Law Act 1977)—S
(a)makes a person liable on conviction of an offence triable only summarily to a fine or a maximum fine which is less than £1,000; or
(b)confers a power by subordinate instrument to make a person liable on conviction of an offence triable only summarily (whether or not created by the instrument) to a fine or a maximum fine which is less than £1,000, or a fine or a maximum fine which shall not exceed an amount of less than £1,000,
and the fine or maximum fine which may be imposed or, as the case may be, for which the subordinate instrument may provide has not been altered by any provision mentioned in sub-paragraph (2) below.
(2)The provisions referred to in sub-paragraph (1) above are—
(a)paragraph 1 above;
(b)paragraph 3 above (except where paragraph 4(3) above applies);
(c)section 30(3) of the Criminal Law Act 1977;
(d)an enactment passed or made after 29th July 1977 and before 11th April 1983.
(3)In the case of an offence to which section 292(2)(b) of the Principal Act applies, sub-paragraphs (2)(a) to (c) above do not apply and the fine or the maximum fine referred to in sub-paragraph (9) below is the fine or the maximum fine for the offence immediately before 29th July 1977 as amended, where applicable, by paragraph 4 above.
(4)This paragraph also applies where any enactment—
(a)is contained in a consolidation Act passed after 29th July 1977 and before 11th April 1983; and
(b)otherwise fulfils the conditions of sub-paragraph (1) above as amended by sub-paragraph (3) above where it applies; and
(c)is a re-enactment (with or without modification) of an enactment passed on or before 29th July 1977.
(5)Subject to sub-paragraph (10) below, where an Act provides or confers a power to provide for, on conviction of an offence triable only summarily, a fine or a maximum fine in respect of a specified quantity or a specified number of things, that fine or maximum fine is the fine or, as the case may be, the maximum fine for the purposes of this paragraph.
(6)Where an Act to which this paragraph applies provides or confers a power to provide different fines or maximum fines in relation to different circumstances or persons of different descriptions, such fines or maximum fines are to be treated separately for the purposes of this paragraph.
(7)This paragraph also applies where the penalties or maximum penalties provided or for which provision may be made by or under an Act on first and on second or subsequent conviction of an offence have been made the same by operation of paragraph 4 above; and in that case the fine or the maximum fine referred to in sub-paragraph (9) below is the maximum fine to which a person is or may be made liable by virtue of that paragraph.
(8)This paragraph does not apply in the case of—
(a)so much of any Act as (in whatever words) makes a person liable or provides for a person to be made liable to a fine or a maximum fine for each period of a specified length during which a continuing offence is committed;
(b)section 67(3) of the M2Transport Act 1962;
(c)sections 42(1) and 47(1) of the M3Road Traffic Act 1988;
(d)an enactment mentioned in Schedule 1 to the M4British Railways Act 1977 to the extent that the enactment was amended by section 13(1) of that Act;
(e)an enactment mentioned in Part III of Schedule 2 to this Act or in Schedule 2 to the M5Criminal Justice Act 1982.
(9)Where this paragraph applies, the fine or, as the case may be, the maximum fine to which a person is or may be made liable by or under the Act shall be increased to the amount shown in column 2 of the Table below opposite the band in column 1 within which the fine or the maximum fine referred to in sub-paragraph (1) above falls.
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|---|---|
| Fine or maximum fine | Increased amount |
| Under £25 | £25 |
| Under £50 but not less than £25 | £50 |
| Under £200 but not less than £50 | £200 |
| Under £400 but not less than £200 | £500 |
| Under £1,000 but not less than £400 | £1,000 |
(10)Where an Act to which this paragraph applies provides or confers a power to provide for, on conviction of an offence triable only summarily, a fine or a maximum fine in respect of a specified quantity or a specified number of things but also provides or confers a power to provide for an alternative fine or maximum fine as regards the offence, sub-paragraph (9) above shall have effect to increase—
(a)the alternative fine; and
(b)any amount that the Act provides or confers a power to provide for as the maximum which a fine as regards the offence may not exceed,
as well as the fine or maximum fine which it has effect to increase by virtue of sub-paragraph (5) above.