The standard scale is a system in

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

law whereby financial

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

penalties (

fines Fines may refer to: *Fines, Andalusia, Spanish municipality *Fine (penalty) * Fine, a dated term for a Lease#Leases_of_land, premium on a lease of land, a large sum the tenant pays to commute (lessen) the rent throughout the term * Fines, ore or oth ...

) in

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred ...

have maximum levels set against a standard scale. Then, when inflation makes it necessary to increase the levels of the fines the

legislator A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-nat ...

s need to modify only the scale rather than every individual piece of legislation. In

English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

, the reference in legislation will typically appear as:

Legislation and level of fines

Australia

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the monetary fines for a breach of law is determined by however many penalty units the offence is worth, times the value of that jurisdiction's penalty unit. All states and territories set their own penalty unit values, which is supplemented by the federal penalty unit for federal offences.

Channel Islands

Guernsey

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

uses the UK standard scale for adopted UK legislation, and its own scale (called the uniform scale) for legislation originating in the

States of Guernsey The States of Guernsey (), officially the States of Deliberation and sometimes referred to as the Government of Guernsey, is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the ...

. Guernsey's dependencies of

Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...

and

Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...

have their own distinct scales, although these are generally in line with the Guernsey scale. * The Uniform Scale of Fines (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 1989 * Criminal Justice Act 1982 (Guernsey) Order 1992

Alderney

* ''The Uniform Scale of Fines (Alderney) Law 1989'' as amended by ''The Uniform Scale of Fines (Alderney) (Amendment) Ordinance 2007''.

Sark

Sark has its own standard scale, which is normally maintained at the same levels as Guernsey's. * The ''Uniform Scale of Fines (Sark) Law, 1989'' as amended by the ''Uniform Scale of Fines (Sark) (Amendment) Ordinance, 1992'', the ''Uniform Scale of Fines (Sark) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2004'', and the ''Uniform Scale of Fines (Sark) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2006''.

Isle of Man

Since 1 January 2018, for Acts of Tynwald the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

uses a standard scale introduced by Section 55 of the Interpretation Act 2015. It replaced specified amounts specified within each piece of legislation. ''Above amounts .'' In respect of Acts of Parliament that extend to the Isle of Man the UK standard scale is used. * Interpretation Act 2015 (An Act of Tynwald) * Criminal Justice Act 1982 (An Act of Parliament) as extended to the Island by the ''Criminal Justice Act 1982 (Isle of Man) Order 1983'', and amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1982 (Isle of Man) Order 1992.

Jersey

* Criminal Justice (Standard Scale of Fines) (Jersey) Law 1993 * Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Jersey) Law 2016 ''Above amounts .''

Historic

United Kingdom

Schedule 1 to the

Interpretation Act 1978 The Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act makes provision for the interpretation of acts of Parliament, Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England, Measures of the Church Asse ...

defines "the standard scale" for each

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

with reference to the following statutes. The " statutory maximum", which is the maximum fine which can be imposed by a summary court for a triable either way statutory offence, is similarly defined by the

so as to correspond to the "

prescribed sum The prescribed sum is the maximum fine that may be imposed on summary conviction of certain offences in the United Kingdom. In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, it is now equivalent to level 5 on the standard scale, which it predates. In Scotl ...

" (in effect to the maximum (level 5) fine on the standard scale, except in Scotland).

England and Wales

* Criminal Justice Act 1982, section 37, (as amended by Criminal Justice Act 1991, section 17(1))

Scotland

The setting of the levels of the standard scale of fines in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

is a matter devolved to the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

. *

Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or ...

, section 225 With effect from 10 December 2007, the Criminal Proceedings etc. Reform (Scotland) Act 2007 increased the "prescribed sum", and with it the "statutory maximum" from £5,000 to £10,000. The level of fines on the standard scale was unaltered.

Northern Ireland

* Fines and Penalties (Northern Ireland) Order 1984, article 5 (as amended by Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1994, article 3(2))

Scale

The above amounts apply with respect to offences committed on or after the following dates: * in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

and in Scotland, 1 October 1992 (by virtue of Criminal Justice Act 1991 (Commencement No 3) Order 1992) * in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, 9 January 1995 (by virtue of Criminal Justice (1994 Order) (Commencement) Order (Northern Ireland) 1994). The United Kingdom standard scale was extended in respect of certain offences to two

Crown dependencies The Crown Dependencies are three dependent territory, offshore island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the The Crown, British Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, both lo ...

: * the Isle of Man, with effect from 1 December 1992 (by virtue of Criminal Justice Act 1982 (Isle of Man) Order 1992). * Guernsey, with effect from 1 February 1993 (by virtue of Criminal Justice Act 1982 (Guernsey) Order 1992).

= Historical

= Before March 2015, the level 5 limit was £5,000. This limit was removed by section 85 of the

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (c. 10) (LASPO) is a statute of the Parliament of the United Kingdom enacted by the Cameron–Clegg coalition, coalition government of 2010-2015, creating reforms to the justice syst ...

.Subsections 1, 2 and 4, brought into force on 12 March 2015 b
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Commencement No. 11) Order 2015
/ref> The level 1–4 limits were unaffected. Between 1984 and 1992, the standard scale in England and Wales was as follows:

Hong Kong

* Chapter 221 Criminal Procedure Ordinance, section 113B – Levels of fines for offences * Chapter 221 Criminal Procedure Ordinance, schedule 8 – Level of fines for offences Fines specified in prior legislation were converted to points on the standard scale by section 113C. ''Above amounts .''

Zimbabwe

* Criminal Penalties Amendment Act 2001, took effect from 20 May 2002

References

* {{cite book , last1 = Ormerod , first1 = David , last2 = Hooper, Rt Hon Lord Justice , title = Blackstone's Criminal Practice 2010 , location = Oxford , publisher =

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, year= 2009 , isbn = 978-0-19-957424-7 Sentencing (law) English criminal law