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Penalties and period of imprisonment to be apportioned, and defendants may pay part of the penalty to be released from a portion of the imprisonment.
No sum less than one monthly instalment of any penalty to be accepted.
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42. [Recital.] Every justice and justices of the peace by and before whom any person or persons shall be convicted of any offence against this Act shall, in mitigating any penalty in which any such person shall be convicted, and in committing such person or persons to gaol in default of payment of the penalty in which he shall have been convicted, so apportion the amount of mitigation and period of imprisonment as that the penalty or mitigated amount thereof being divided by the period of imprisonment may be regularly calculated into even monthly instalments of not less than two pounds per calendar month, and every month’s imprisonment which any person convicted of any offence against this Act, and against whom any penalty shall have been adjudged, shall suffer, shall be taken to be equivalent to payment of one month’s instalment of such penalty; and if any person who shall be committed to prison in default of payment of any penalty under the provisions of this Act shall, after undergoing any part of such imprisonment, be desirous of being released therefrom on payment of a proportion of such penalty, such person may pay into the hands of the gaoler or keeper of the prison such a sum of money as shall appear to be the amount of the penalty remaining due after deducting the monthly instalment or instalments which shall be deemed to have been paid by the number of calendar months such person shall have been in prison; (that is to say,) if such person shall have been committed to prison for the period of three calendar months for nonpayment of the sum of six pounds, and shall have been in prison two calendar months, then to pay the sum of two pounds; if in prison one month, then to pay the sum of four pounds; if such person shall have been committed for the period of six months for nonpayment of eighteen pounds, and shall have undergone one month’s imprisonment, then to pay the sum of fifteen pounds; if in prison two months, twelve pounds; if in prison five months, three pounds; and so in proportion, reckoning as aforesaid each calendar month’s imprisonment equal to a payment of a monthly proportion of the amount of penalty for nonpayment of which such person shall have been committed; and every gaoler and keeper of any prison in which any such person shall be imprisoned shall on receipt of such payment forthwith discharge the person making the same from custody for the remainder of the period for which such person shall have been committed; and if any person against whom any penalty shall be adjudged for any offence against this Act, and who shall be directed to be committed to prison for any period for default of payment of such sum, shall previous to being removed to the gaol or prison pay down any part of the penalty which he or she shall be adjudged to pay, the justice or justices before whom such person shall be convicted may allow such part payment to be made; and such justice or justices shall in every such case, by indorsement on the back of the warrant of commitment, specify the amount so paid, and direct such person or persons to be imprisoned for such a period of time only as shall be equivalent, according to the monthly proportions or instalments of the penalty, calculated and apportioned as aforesaid, to the amount of penalty remaining unpaid: Provided always, that no sum less than the sum of two pounds shall be allowed to be so paid as a proportion or instalment of any penalty, or, if the monthly proportion shall exceed the sum of two pounds, then no less a sum than one whole monthly proportion of the penalty, calculated and apportioned as aforesaid, shall be allowed to be paid by any person, in order to be released from any portion of his or her imprisonment.
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