ABSTRACT
Section 82(1) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 provides that a magistrates’ court which imposes a fine may only fix a term of imprisonment (or detention in a young offenders institution) if: • the offence is punishable with imprisonment and it appears to the court
that the offender has sufficient means to pay the fine immediately; or • it appears to the court that the offender is unlikely to remain long enough
at an address where he can be found so that enforcement of the fine by other methods is possible; or
• the court also imposes a custodial sentence on the offender or the offender is already serving a custodial sentence.
