Fine (penalty)

A fine or mulct (the latter synonym typically used in civil law) is a penalty of money that a court of law or other authority decides has to be paid as punishment for a crime or other offense. The amount of a fine can be determined case by case, but it is often announced in advance.

thumb|150px|A warning sign in Singapore that states the fee for releasing vehicles that are immobilized with [[wheel clamps by private security in a non-public area]]

thumb|A parking attendant issuing a fine for illegal parking in Seattle, Washington, 1960

The most usual use of the term is for financial punishments for the commission of crimes, especially minor crimes, or as the settlement of a claim.

One typical example of a fine is money paid for violations of traffic laws. In English common law, relatively small fines are used either in place of or alongside community service orders for low-level criminal offences. More considerable fines are also given independently or alongside shorter prison sentences when the judge or magistrate considers a large amount of retribution is necessary, but there is unlikely to be a significant danger to the public. For instance, fraud is often punished by substantial fines since fraudsters are typically banned from the position or profession they abused to commit their crimes.

Fines can also be used as a form of tax. Money for bail may be applied toward a fine.

A day-fine is a fine that, above a minimum, is based on personal income (similar to progressive taxation), as opposed to a fine of a fixed amount. Day-fines are often implemented to alleviate some of the burden on people experiencing poverty, who might otherwise have issues paying/affording some fines.

Some fines are small, such as for loitering, for which fines (in the United States) range from about $25 to $100. In some areas of the United States (for example California, New York, Texas, and Washington D.C.), fines for petty crimes, such as criminal mischief (shouting in public places, projecting an object at a police car) range from $2,500 to $5,000.

Fines by country

England and Wales

In the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, unless the context otherwise requires, the expression "fine", except for any enactment imposing a limit on the amount of any fine, includes any pecuniary penalty or pecuniary forfeiture or pecuniary compensation payable under a conviction.

In section 32 of that Act, the expression "fine" includes a pecuniary penalty but does not include a pecuniary forfeiture or pecuniary compensation.

In sections 15 to 32 and 48 of the Criminal Law Act 1977, the expression "fine" includes any pecuniary penalty.

In England, there is now a system whereby the court gives the offender a 'fine card', which is somewhat like a credit card; at any shop that has a paying-in machine, he pays the value of the fine to the shop, which then uses the fine card to pass that money on to the court's bank account.

A related concept is the fixed penalty notice, a pecuniary penalty for some minor crimes that can be either accepted (instead of prosecution, thus saving time and paperwork) or taken to court for regular proceedings for that crime. While technically not a fine, which, under the Bill of Rights 1689, may be levied only following a conviction, it serves the same purpose of punishment.

Early examples of fines include the weregild or blood money payable under Anglo-Saxon common law for causing a death. The murderer would be expected to pay a sum of money or goods dependent on the victim's social status.

The Netherlands

Criminal law

General information

The Dutch Criminal Code (Dutch: Wetboek van Strafrecht (WvSr)) doesn't contain specific amounts for fines for every violation of the law. Instead of that, the Criminal Code provides six fine categories. Every penalty clause of the Criminal Code contains a fine category. The categories are:

{| class="wikitable"

! Category

! Maximum height of the fine<br />Wetboek van Strafrecht (European Netherlands)

! Maximum height of the fine<br />Wetboek van Strafrecht BES (Caribbean Netherlands)

|First

|€515

|$280

|Second

|€5,150

|$2,800

|Third

|€10,300

|$5,600

|Fourth

|€25,750

|$14,000

|Fifth

|€103,000

|$56,000

|Sixth

|€1,030,000

|$560,000

These sums are only an upper limit, it's up to the judge or the prosecutor to determine the exact sum of the fine. However, the amount of the fine must be at least €3. The sums of categories are always 1, 10, 20, 50, 200 and 2000 times the amount of the first category. In addition to the fine, the convict also has to pay an administration fee of €9. The amounts are established by the government, via a royal order. however usually judges reckon one day for every €50 which stays unpaid. However, the substitute imprisonment must be at least one day (even though the fine was €3) and cannot exceed one year (even though the penalty was €100,000). If this doesn't lead to the payment of the fine, the CJIB will send another reminder, now with a raise of 20%, however, the raise must be at least €30. The exact fine per violation is determined by an annex of the WAHV. In addition to the fine, the fined subject will also have to pay €9 The amount of the administration costs will also be determined by the minister. This decision will contain a short description of the violation, the place and time the violation was committed and the sum of the fine.

The subject will have two choices now. He can pay the fine, or he can go into appeal. In contrast to the court-imposed fine, when the subject has paid the fine, he will keep the right to go into appeal. The subject can go into appeal within six weeks. In the first instance, the subject appeals to the public prosecutor. The prosecutor shall withdraw the fine completely when he thinks the appellant has right. He will lower the fine sum if he thinks the suspect is partially correct. If the prosecutor believes the suspect is wrong, he will uphold the fine. The suspect does not have to pay the fine as long as the prosecutor has not decided on the appeal yet.

Once the prosecutor has decided, the suspect will again have two choices. He can pay, or he goes into appeal at the sub-district judge of his arrondissement (or the arrondissement of the place where the disputed violation was committed). But now, the suspect has to pay the fine as a surety. If the suspect doesn't pay the surety, the judge will declare him inadmissible (thus the fine will be upheld). He does that at the court of appeal of Arnhem-Leeuwarden in Leeuwarden. This appeal will be in writing, unless the appellant, per se, wants to do it orally. If the fine is lower than €70, or the appellant's appeal is rejected in Leeuwarden, there will be no legal remedies anymore and the case will be closed. The appellant's surety will be transformed into a fine.