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
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 comes 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 a 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) does 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 – (1) The penalties fixed by operation of this Act apply only to offences committed after the date 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 2 are 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 1971 
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 – 2020/3 March 2021

This is the official version of this Act as at 3 March 2021.

This Act has been revised by the Legislative Drafting Division from 2008 to 2020/3 March 2021 under the authority of the Attorney General given under 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
(d)	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.

Note: 
(a)	The Liquor Act 1971 amended in this Act has been repealed by the Liquor Act 2011;
(b)	The Labour and Employment Act 1972 amended in this Act has been repealed by the Labour and Employment Relations Act 2013;
(c)	The Shipping Act 1972 amended in this Act has been repealed by the Shipping Act 1998.
(d)	The Customs Act 1977 has been repealed by the Customs Act 2014.

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

Although this Act is spent, it is retained in the Consolidation for information purposes. 

This Act is administered by
the Ministry for Customs and Revenue.