Efforts are underway to seek prison sentences over the failure to pay fines handed down in criminal convictions, the Prosecutor General’s (PG) office has said.
The court will be asked to convert the punishment to a jail term within 30 days of notification by the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) of the non-payment by the deadline of a fine imposed over a criminal offence, the PG office said in a statement published on its website.
The office referred to rules on determining punishments in trials.
“With references to these regulations, based on information provided by MIRA to this office about non-payment, this office has been submitting to the lower court to change the punishment of persons who do not pay fines to a jail sentence,” the PG office said.
In the future, punishments will be changed under the rules to a jail term if fines are not paid, the PG office said, noting that a jail sentence was the actual punishment for the offence.
As the court imposes fines as a punishment after confirming that the person has the means to pay the fine, there are no excuses not to pay fines imposed as a penalty for criminal offences, the office added.
