Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014
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PART 3 Recovery Orders | ||
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Appointment of receiver in default of payment of fine | ||
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8. (1) (a) Subject to section 7 (2), where a fined person fails to pay the fine by the due date for payment, the court may, at the sitting of the court on the date specified in the notice concerned under section 7 (4) served on the person, make an order appointing an approved person or sheriff to carry out the functions set out in paragraph (b). | ||
(b) The receiver shall— | ||
(i) recover from the fined person— | ||
(I) the fine or, as may be appropriate, that part of the fine that, upon the notice under subsection (2) being given to the receiver, remains unpaid, and | ||
(II) the fees and expenses of the receiver, | ||
or | ||
(ii) seize and sell property belonging to the fined person and recover from the proceeds of the sale of that property a sum equal to the amount of— | ||
(I) the fine or, as may be appropriate, that part of the fine that, upon the notice under subsection (2) being given to the receiver, remains unpaid, and | ||
(II) the fees and expenses of the receiver. | ||
(2) (a) The Courts Service shall give notice to the receiver of the making of the recovery order by giving a copy of the order to the receiver. | ||
(b) The recovery order shall take effect from the day immediately following the day on which the notice under paragraph (a) is given. | ||
(3) The recovery order shall authorise the receiver (alone or accompanied by such and so many members of the Garda Síochána as he or she considers necessary) to— | ||
(a) enter (if necessary by the use of reasonable force) any premises, including a dwelling, at which he or she has reasonable grounds for believing property belonging to the fined person is located, | ||
(b) demand, and take possession of (if necessary, by the use of reasonable force) any property that belongs to the fined person, | ||
(c) issue receipts in respect of any property of which the receiver has taken possession, | ||
(d) manage, dispose of, retain or otherwise deal with the property, | ||
(e) insure the property, and | ||
(f) inspect, at all reasonable times, any books, documents or other records that contain information relating to property belonging to the fined person. | ||
(4) The receiver shall perform his or her functions subject to any directions or conditions specified in the recovery order, including any directions or conditions relating to the payment into court by the receiver of amounts received by him or her pursuant to the order. | ||
(5) The receiver may delegate such of his or her functions under subsection (3) as he or she thinks appropriate to his or her employees, servants or bailiffs. | ||
(6) The receiver may, at any time after he or she is given the notice under subsection (2), apply to the court that made the recovery order for directions in relation to the performance of his or her functions under this Act. | ||
(7) Any person who is in possession of property belonging to the fined person shall deliver that property to the receiver upon the receiver making a demand of him or her in that behalf. | ||
(8) (a) Where the receiver sells property belonging to the fined person and the proceeds of the sale exceed the amount of the fine or the amount of the fine remaining unpaid, as the case may be, the receiver shall pay to that person so much of those proceeds as exceeds that amount. | ||
(b) In this subsection “fine” includes the fees and expenses of the receiver. | ||
(9) A person who— | ||
(a) fails to comply with subsection (7), | ||
(b) obstructs or interferes with the receiver in the course of the performance by him or her of his or her functions or otherwise impedes the performance by the receiver of those functions, or | ||
(c) obstructs or interferes with a person to whom the receiver has delegated any of his or her functions under subsection (5) in the course of the performance by that person of any such functions so delegated or otherwise impedes the performance by that person of those functions, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both. | ||
(10) (a) The Minister may, by order, specify— | ||
(i) the fees that a receiver may deduct from any sum or sums recovered by him or her, or obtained from the proceeds of the sale of any property by him or her, in accordance with this section, or | ||
(ii) the rates at which fees that may be so deducted shall be calculated. | ||
(b) The Minister shall not make an order under this subsection without the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. | ||
(11) The receiver shall make and maintain a record in writing of— | ||
(a) the fees deducted, and | ||
(b) the expenses incurred and deducted, by him or her from the sum or sums recovered, or the proceeds of the sale of any property sold, by him or her pursuant to the recovery order. | ||
(12) The receiver shall, not later than 6 months after the performance by him or her of his or her functions pursuant to the recovery order, give to the Courts Service the record required to be made and maintained under subsection (11) relating to that order. | ||
(13) Where the receiver makes, or causes to be made, an entry in a record required to be made and maintained under subsection (11) that— | ||
(a) is false or misleading in any material respect, and | ||
(b) he or she knows to be false or misleading, he or she shall be guilty of an offence. | ||
(14) A receiver who is guilty of an offence under subsection (13) shall be liable— | ||
(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both, or | ||
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both. | ||
(15) A record required to be made and maintained under subsection (11) shall be in such form as the Courts Service shall determine. | ||
(16) In this section— | ||
“approved person” means a person approved under section 10 for appointment under subsection (1); | ||
“expenses”, in relation to a receiver, means the expenses reasonably incurred by the receiver in the performance of his or her functions; | ||
“fees”, in relation to a receiver, means the fees of the receiver that may be deducted in accordance with any order under subsection (10); | ||
“property” means land or personal property; | ||
“sheriff” means a sheriff appointed by the Government under the Court Officers Act 1945 . |