🔍Search Tips
- • Search by keyword: "land", "tax", "arrest"
- • Use exact phrases: "land commission"
- • Enter citations: 45, 45(3)(a), 45:3:a
- • Press / to search, Esc to close
Searching all Ugandan Acts. Comprehensive results.
Beta Version
Report any issues you encounter
Where a fine is imposed by a magistrate’s court under any law, in fixing the amount of the fine, the court shall take into consideration among other things, the means of the offender so far as they are known to the court; and in the absence of express provisions relating to the fine in any such law, the following provisions shall apply—
(a)where no sum is expressed to which the fine may extend, the amount of the fine which may be imposed is unlimited, but shall not be excessive;
(b)in the case of an offence punishable with a fine or a period of imprisonment, the imposition of a fine or a period of imprisonment shall be a matter for the discretion of the court;
(c)in the case of an offence punishable with imprisonment as well as a fine in which the offender is sentenced to a fine with or without imprisonment, and in every case of an offence punishable with a fine only in which the offender is sentenced to a fine, the court passing sentence may, in its discretion—
(i)direct by its sentence that in default of payment of the fine the offender shall suffer imprisonment for a certain period, which imprisonment shall be in addition to any other imprisonment to which he or she may have been sentenced or to which he or she may be liable under a commutation of sentence; and also
(ii)issue a warrant for the levy of the amount on the immovable and movable property of the offender by distress and sale under warrant; except that if the sentence directs that in default of payment of the fine the offender shall be imprisoned, and if the offender has undergone the whole of such imprisonment in default, no court shall issue a distress warrant unless for special reasons to be recorded in writing it considers it necessary to do so;
(d)the period of imprisonment ordered by a court in respect of the non-payment of any sum of money adjudged to be paid by a conviction or in respect of the default of a sufficient distress to satisfy any such sum shall be such term as in the opinion of the court will satisfy the justice of the case, but shall not exceed in any case the maximum fixed by the following scale—
Amount
Period
≤ 0.5 point 7 days 0.5 - 1 point 14 days 1 - 2 points 1 month 2 - 3 points 6 weeks 3 - 6 points 3 months > 6 points 1 year
(e)the imprisonment which is imposed in default of payment of a fine shall terminate whenever the fine is either paid or levied by process of law.
When a Magistrate's Court fines you, it must first consider how much money you have, as far as it knows. If the law does not state the maximum fine, t...
AI-generated, for reference only.
Searching within Magistrates Courts Act. Faster results.