Transport Act 1982

36 Registration of sums payable in default for enforcement as fines

(1) The following provisions of this section apply where by virtue of section 30(3) or 32(2) of this Act a sum determined by reference to the fixed penalty for any offence (referred to below in this section as a sum payable in default) may be registered under this section for enforcement against any person (referred to below in this section as the defaulter) as a fine.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, the chief officer of police may issue a certificate in respect of any sum payable in default stating that the sum is registrable under this section for enforcement against the defaulter as a fine (referred to below in this section as a registration certificate).

(3) Subsection (2) above shall not apply where the fixed penalty notice in question was given to the defaulter under section 27(1) of this Act in respect of an offence committed in Scotland; but in any such case the fixed penalty clerk—

(a) if the defaulter appears to him to reside within the jurisdiction of the court of summary jurisdiction of which he is himself the clerk, shall register the sum payable in default for enforcement as a fine by that court;

(b) in any other case, shall issue a registration certificate in respect of that sum.

(4) Where the chief officer of police or the fixed penalty clerk issues a registration certificate under this section, he shall cause it to be sent—

(a) if the defaulter appears to him to reside in England and Wales, to the clerk to the justices for the petty sessions area in which the defaulter appears to him to reside; and

(b) if the defaulter appears to him to reside in Scotland, to the clerk of a court of summary jurisdiction for the area in which the defaulter appears to him to reside.

(5) A registration certificate issued under this section in respect of any sum payable in default shall—

(a) give particulars of the offence to which the fixed penalty notice relates;

(b) indicate whether registration is authorised under section 30(3) or 32(2) of this Act; and

(c) state the name and last known address of the defaulter and the amount of the sum payable in default.

(6) Subject to subsection (7) below—

(a) where the clerk to the justices for a petty sessions area receives a registration certificate issued under this section in respect of any sum payable in default, he shall register that sum for enforcement as a fine in that area by entering it in the register of a magistrates' court acting for that area ;

(b) where the clerk of a court of summary jurisdiction receives a registration certificate so issued, he shall register the sum payable in default for enforcement as a fine by that court.

(7) The clerk receiving a registration certificate so issued shall not be required by subsection (6) above to register the sum payable in default if it appears to him that the defaulter does not reside in the petty sessions area or (as the case may be) within the jurisdiction of the court of summary jurisdiction in question ; but in any such case he shall cause the certificate to be sent—

(a) if the defaulter appears to him to reside in England and Wales, to the clerk to the justices for the petty sessions area in which the defaulter appears to him to reside; and

(b) if the defaulter appears to him to reside in Scotland, to the clerk of a court of summary jurisdiction for the area in which the defaulter appears to him to reside ;

and that subsection shall apply accordingly on receipt by that clerk of the certificate as it applies on receipt by the clerk to whom it was originally sent.

(8) Where the clerk to the justices for a petty sessions area or the clerk of a court of summary jurisdiction registers any sum under this section for enforcement as a fine, he shall thereupon give notice of registration to the defaulter, specifying the amount of that sum and giving the information with respect to the offence and the authority for registration included in the registration certificate by virtue of subsection (5) (a) and (b) above or (in a case within subsection (3) (a) above) the corresponding information.

(9) For the purposes of this section, where the defaulter is a body corporate, the place where that body resides and the address of that body shall be either of the following—

(a) the registered or principal office of that body ; and

(b) the address which, with respect to the vehicle concerned, is the address recorded in the record kept under the [1971 c. 10.] Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 as being that body's address.

(10) On the registration of any sum in a magistrates' court or a court of summary jurisdiction by virtue of this section any enactment referring (in whatever terms) to a fine imposed or other sum adjudged to be paid on the conviction of such a court shall have effect in the case in question as if the sum so registered were a fine imposed by that court on the conviction of the defaulter on the date of the registration.

(11) Accordingly, in the application by virtue of this section of the provisions of the [1980 c. 43.] Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 relating to the satisfaction and enforcement of sums adjudged to be paid on the conviction of a magistrates' court, section 85 of that Act (power to remit a fine in whole or in part) is not excluded by subsection (2) of that section (references in that section to a fine not to include any other sum adjudged to be paid on a conviction) from applying to a sum registered in a magistrates' court by virtue of this section.