SAMOA

FINES (REVIEW AND AMENDMENT) ACT 1998

Arrangement of Provisions

1	Short title and commencement 
2.	Interpretation
3.	Amendment to fine provisions
4.	Fixing the Penalty Unit

5.	Amendments to Specific Fines
6.	Application of this Act
7.	Other Amendments

	Schedules

		

FINES (REVIEW AND AMENDMENT) ACT 1998
1998							      No. 24

AN ACT to amend the fines prescribed for offences by all Acts and Regulations and to replace references to fines fixed as monetary amounts with the concept of the penalty unit.
[Assent and commencement date: 16 July 1998]

BE IT ENACTED by the Legislative Assembly of Samoa in Parliament assembled as follows:

1.	Short title and commencement-(1) This Act may be cited as the Fines (Review and Amendment) Act 1998.
(2) This Act shall come into force on the date it is assented to by the Head of State.

2.	Interpretation - In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
“pecuniary penalty” includes a fine.

3.	Amendment to fine provisions-(1) In all Acts and Regulations, now or at any time in the future, in force in Samoa-
(a) a reference to the imposition of a fine or maximum fine, of less than $100 is taken to impose a fine or maximum fine, as the case may be, of $100, unless otherwise specified in Schedule 1; and
(b)  a reference to a pecuniary penalty of T tala, where tala is a number, is taken to be a reference to a pecuniary penalty of P pecuniary penalty units, where P is :
(i) if T ÷ 100 is a whole number - that whole number; or
(ii) if T ÷ 100 is not a whole number - the next highest whole number, 
and all Acts and Regulations are amended accordingly.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to fines that are expressed to be for continuing offences, which is set at one-half of the substantive fine in each case.

4.	Fixing the penalty unit - In all Acts and Regulations a reference to a “penalty unit”  is the amount of “$100” for each penalty unit prescribed as a pecuniary penalty.

5.	Amendments to specific fines - Despite anything in  section 3(1), the fines provided for in the Acts and Regulations specified in Column A of Schedule 1 are amended to provide the fine specified in Column B of the Schedule.

6.	Application of this Act-(1) The penalties fixed by operation of this Act apply only to offences committed after the ddate of commencement of this Act.
(2) The appropriate fine for offences committed prior to the commencement of this Act is the fine fixed by the respective Act or Regulation prior to its amendment.
(3) If the amount of the penalty unit is amended, the revised amount applies only to fines imposed in respect of offences committed after the amendment has come into force.

7.	Other Amendments - The provisions of the Acts and Regulations specified in Schedule 2are amended in accordance with the amendments specified in that Schedule.

SCHEDULES 

SCHEDULE 1
(Sections 3(1)(a) and 5)
Column A	Column B	
	Act (or Regulation) 
and Section Penalty 
Unit

Legislative Assembly Powers
and Privileges Ordinance 1960		
Section 12	5	
Section 13	5	
Section 15	2	
Section 16	5	
Section 25 	5	
Section 26	5	
		
Shipping Act 1972		
Section 14	100	
Section 15	50	
Section 21	100	
Section 27	50	
Section 32	100	
Section 34 	50	
		
Port Control Regulations 1939		
Regulation 56	5	
		
Radio on Ships Regulation 1960		
Regulation 18	5	
		
Port Control Amendment 
Regulations 1960
		
Regulation 44	10	
		
Labour and Employment Act 1972		
Section 41(1)	10	
Section 41(2)	5	
Section 41(3)	5	
		
Apprenticeship Act 1972		
Section 31(1)	5 (in the case of an employer)	
	10 (in the case of an apprentice)	
Section 31(2)	2	
Section 31(3)	10	
		
Shops Ordinance 1961		
Section 15(2)	5	
		
Audit Office Regulations 1976		
Regulations 18(a)	5	
Regulations 18(b)	2	
Regulations 18(c)	5	
Regulations 18(d)	2	
		
Rhinoceros Beetle Ordinance 1954
		
Section 11	5	
Section 17(2)	5	
		
Bunchytop Act 1965		
Section 21(1)	2	
Section 21(2)	5	
		
Fisheries Act 1988		
Section 5	5	
Section 21(1)	2	
Section 21(2)	50	
Section 21(5)	50	
Section 21(6)	50	
		
Infants Ordinance 1961		

Section 12	5	
Section 20	5	
		
Permits and Passports Act 1978		
Section 13(1) (e)	5	
		
Burials Ordinance 1961		
Section 10(2)	5	
Section 11	2	
		
Citizenship Act 1972		
Section 21	10	
		
Commissions of Inquiry Act 1964		
Section 12(b)	5	
Section 15(2)	10	
		
Secret Commissions Act 1975		
Section 14	50 (for a Corporation)	
	20 (for any other person)	
		
Liquor Act 197		
Section 14(1)	5 (for a first offence)	
	10 (for subsequent offences)	
		
Police Offences Ordinance 1961		
Section 3	2	
Section 4	2	
Section 5	2	
Section 7	2	
Section 8(1)	2	
Section 8(2)	2	
Section 9	2	
Section 10	2	
Section 11	5	
Section 12(2)	2	
Section 12(5)	2	
Section 13	2	
Section 14(3)	2	
Section 16	2	
Section 18(3)	2	
Section 18(4)	2	
Section 19	2	
Section 20	2	
Section 21	2	
Section 22	2	
		
Gaming Act 1978		
Section 3(1)	20	
Section 3(3)	5	
Section 4	20	
Section 5(1)	2	
Section 10	10	
Section 14(1)	20	
Section 14(2)	10	
Section 23(1)	20	
Section 23(2)	5	
		
Magistrates (District) Court Act 1969		
Section 58(1)	10	
Section 58(2)	10	
Section 116(3)	10	
Section 117(2)	10	
		
Excise Tax (Domestic Administration) Act 1984		
Section 14	100	
Section 50	20	
Section 51	100	
Section 52	100	
Section 53	20	
Section 55	100	
Section 60	10	
		
Customs Act 1977		
Section 13(3)	10	
Section 20(2)	20	
Section 37(2)	50	
Section 38(3)	50	
Section 39(7)	50	
Section 40(3)	50	
Section 41	10	
Section 42(2)	10	
Section 43(2)	10	
Section 44(3)	10	
Section 45(3)	10	
Section 45(4)	20	
Section 46(3)	20	
Section 46(4)	20	
Section 47	10	
Section 49(10)	50	
Section 51(4)	50	
Section 53(3)	20	
Section 54(3)	50	
Section 62(2)	20	
Section 65(6)	20	
Section 66(3)	20	
Section 68(2)	20	
Section 71(3)	20	
Section 73(10)	50	
Section 74(2)	50	
Section 75(2)	20	
Section 77(4)	10	
Section 79(4)	20	
Section 94(2)	20	
Section 101(2)	  1	
Section 105(2)	10	
Section 120	20	
Section 126	20	
Section 176	20	
Section 179(3)	20	
Section 180(3)	10	
Section 184(2)	50	
Section 187(2)	20	
Section 191(7)	50	
Section 193	50	
Section 216	20	
Section 217	50	
Section 218(2)	50	
Section 219	50	
Section 220	20	
Section 222	20	
Section 223(2)	20	
Section 224	10	
Section 226	100	
Section 227(1)	10	
Section 228(2)	10	
Section 229	20	
Section 230	20	
Section 231	20	
Section 237	10	
Section 280	50	

SCHEDULE 2
(Section 7)

AMENDMENTS TO ACTS

Customs Act 1977:

1. Section 40(3) is amended by prescribing a penalty being a fine not exceeding $5,000, or 3 times the value of the imported goods, whichever is the greater, and by providing for the forfeiture to the State of the goods and the ship or aircraft involved.
2. Section 105(2) is amended by prescribing a fine not exceeding $1,000, or 3 times the value of the goods, whichever is the greater.
3. Section 241(1) is amended by -
(a) deleting the figure “$100” from paragraph (a) and replacing it with “$10,000”;  and
(b) deleting the figure “$20” from paragraph (b) and replacing it with “$5,000”.
4. Section 241(2) is amended by prescribing penalty being a fine not exceeding $1,000, or 3times the amount of the duty avoided, whichever is the greater.
5. Section 280 is amended by prescribing penalties being fines not exceeding $1,000 for breach of Regulations.

Excise Tax (Domestic Administration) Act 1984
Section 54 is amended by prescribing a penalty being a fine not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both.

Customs Regulations 1986:

Regulation 103(2) is amended by providing for fines not exceeding $1,000.

REVISION NOTES 2008-2011

This Act has been revised under section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. 

The following general revisions have been made:
(a)	Amendments have been made to conform to modern drafting styles and to use modern language as applied in the laws of Samoa.
(b)	Insertion of the commencement date
(c)	Other minor editing has been done in accordance with the lawful powers of the Attorney General.
(i)	“shall be” and “has been” changed to “is” and “shall be deemed” changed to “is taken”
(ii)	“notwithstanding” changed to “despite”
(iii)	Numbers in words changed to figures

There were no amendments made to this Act since the publication of the Consolidated and Revised Statutes of Samoa 2007.

This Act has been consolidated and revised in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is the official version of this Act as at 31 December 2011.  It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Aumua Ming Leung Wai
Attorney General of Samoa

Revised and consolidated in 2008 by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel)

Revised in 2009, 2010 and 2011 by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Papalii Malietau Malietoa (Parliamentary Counsel).

The Fines (Review and Amendment) Act 1998 is administered by the Ministry of Revenue.