Section 83: Forfeiture of Recognisance and Enforcement

(1)Whenever it is proved to the satisfaction of a magistrate’s court by which a recognisance under this Act has been taken, or when the recognisance is for appearance before a court, to the satisfaction of that court, that such recognisance has been forfeited, the court shall record the grounds of the proof, and may call upon any person bound by the recognisance to pay the penalty for forfeiture, or to show cause why the penalty should not be paid.

(2)If sufficient cause is not shown and the penalty is not paid, the court may proceed to recover the penalty by issuing a warrant for the attachment and sale of the movable property belonging to such person, or his or her estate if the person is dead.

(3)That warrant may be executed within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the court which issued it; and it shall authorise the attachment and sale of the movable property belonging to such person without those limits, when endorsed by any magistrate within the local limits of whose jurisdiction that property is found.

(4)If such penalty is not paid and cannot be recovered by the attachment and sale, the person so bound shall be liable, by order of the court which issued the warrant, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.

(5)The court may, at its discretion, remit any portion of the penalty mentioned and enforce payment in part only.

(6)When any person who has furnished security is convicted of an offence the commission of which constitutes a breach of the conditions of his or her recognisance, a certified copy of the judgment of the court by which he or she was convicted of that offence may be used as evidence in proceedings under this section against his or her surety or sureties, and, if that certified copy is so used, the court shall presume that the offence was committed by him or her unless the contrary is proved.