Commentary on Sections Part 12 - Sentencing Chapter 1: General provisions about sentencing Section 164: Fixing of fines
470.This section re-enacts section 128 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act with some modifications. The court must inquire into the financial circumstances of an offender before fixing the amount of a fine on an offender (subsection (1)). When determining the amount of a fine, the court must take the financial circumstances of the offender, the seriousness of the offence and the circumstances of the case into account. In certain cases where the information is not available, such as where the offender has not furnished a statement of his financial circumstances, and the court has been unable to assess the offender’s financial circumstances, the court may go ahead and fix the amount it thinks appropriate (subsection (5)).