BILL 52
An Act to Amend the
Provincial Offences Procedure Act
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:
1 Section
14 of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act, chapter P-22.1 of the
Acts of New Brunswick, 1987, is amended
(a) by repealing
subsection (1) and substituting the following:
14(1) A defendant who does not wish to dispute the charge set out in
the ticket may, no later than the time stated in the ticket for payment,
pay a fixed penalty
(a) at the address specified in the
ticket,
(b) at any address or office of Service
New Brunswick,
(c) electronically on the Internet site
maintained by Service New Brunswick, or
(d) by telephone, by calling Service
New Brunswick TeleServices.
(b) in subsection
(2)
(i) in paragraph (a)
by striking out “and” at the end of the paragraph;
(ii)
in paragraph (b) by striking out the period at the end of the paragraph
and substituting a comma followed by “and”;
(iii) by adding after
paragraph (b) the following:
(c) Service New Brunswick may accept
payment of a fixed penalty later than the time stated in the ticket
for payment if
(i) the payment is personally delivered
to an office of Service New Brunswick, and
(ii) the notice of prosecution has not
been filed with the judge.
(c) by repealing
subsection (3);
(d) by repealing
subsection (5) and substituting the following:
14(5) The amount of the fixed penalty payable shall be the sum of
(a) the minimum fine set for the offence
charged,
(b) any other additional fine or money
penalty required to be imposed under an Act,
(c) the surcharge under the Victims Services Act, if any is
payable, and
(d) the administrative fee prescribed
by regulation.
2 Subsection
15(1) of the Act is amended by striking out “to the place stated
in the ticket for payment of the fixed penalty” and substituting “to the address specified
in the ticket for payment of the fixed penalty or to any address or
office of Service New Brunswick”.
3 Section
46 of the Act is amended
(a) in subsection
(1)
(i) in paragraph (c)
by striking out “and” at the end of the paragraph;
(ii)
by adding after paragraph (c) the following:
(c.1) if the proceedings were commenced
by the filing of a notice of prosecution and a fine is imposed, add
the administrative fee referred to in subsection (1.1) to the combined
total of the fine and the surcharge, if any, payable under the Victims Services Act, and
(b) by
adding after subsection (1) the following:
46(1.1) Where a defendant is convicted of an offence and a fine is
imposed, an administrative fee prescribed by regulation is payable
if the proceedings were commenced by the filing of a notice of prosecution.
(c) in
subsection (3) by striking out “Paragraph (1)(c) does not apply”
and substituting “Paragraphs
(1)(c) and (c.1) and subsection (1.1) do not apply”;
(d) by repealing
subsection (4).
4 Section
47 of the Act is amended
(a) in subsection
(2) by striking out “combined total of the fine and any surcharge
imposed under the Victims Services Act” and substituting “combined total of the fine,
any surcharge imposed under the Victims
Services Act and any administrative fee payable under subsection 46(1.1)”;
(b) by repealing
subsection (3) and substituting the following:
47(3) The record of disposition shall state
(a) the amount of any surcharge imposed
under the Victims Services Act whether that amount was
(i) included in the fixed penalty under
paragraph 14(5)(c), or
(ii) calculated by the judge under paragraph 46(1)(c), and
(b) the amount of the administrative
fee, if any, payable under this Act whether the amount was
(i) included in the fixed penalty under
paragraph 14(5)(d), or
(ii) added by the judge under paragraph 46(1)(c.1).
5 Section
80.1 of the Act is amended by striking out “the sum that represents
the combined total of a fine imposed under this Act and a surcharge,
if any is payable, under the Victims Services Act” and substituting “the sum that represents
the combined total of a fine imposed under this Act, a surcharge,
if any is payable, under the Victims
Services Act and an administrative fee, if any is payable,
under subsection 46(1.1)”.
6 Section
115 of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:
Administrative
fees, fines and fixed penalties
115(1) All administrative fees payable under subsection 46(1.1) that are received under this Act
and all fines received under this Act shall be forwarded to the Minister
of Finance.
115(2) Subject to subsections (3), (4) and
(5), all fixed penalties received under this Act shall be forwarded
to the Minister of Finance.
115(3) Where payment of a fixed penalty recovered for the breach of
a by-law of a municipality or rural community is accepted under this
Act by the municipality or rural community, the municipality or rural
community shall retain the fixed penalty.
115(4) Where payment of a fixed penalty is accepted under this Act by
Service New Brunswick, Service New Brunswick shall retain that portion
of the fixed penalty representing the administrative fee referred
to in paragraph 14(5)(d) and shall
(a) in the case of a fixed penalty recovered
for the breach of a by-law of a municipality or rural community, forward
the remainder of the fixed penalty to the municipality or rural community,
and
(b) in any other case, forward the remainder
of the fixed penalty to the Minister of Finance.
115(5) Where payment of a fixed penalty recovered for the breach of
a by-law of a municipality or rural community is accepted under this
Act by a person other than Service New Brunswick or the municipality
or rural community,
(a) the fixed penalty shall be forwarded
to the Minister of Finance, who shall retain that portion of the fixed
penalty representing the administrative fee referred to in paragraph 14(5)(d) and pay the remainder of the
fixed penalty to the municipality or rural community, or
(b) the portion of the fixed penalty
representing the administrative fee referred to in paragraph 14(5)(d) shall be forwarded to the Minister
of Finance and the remainder of the fixed penalty shall be forwarded
to the municipality or rural community directly.
7 Subsection
146(1) of the Act is amended by adding after paragraph (e) the following:
(e.1) prescribing an administrative fee
for the purposes of paragraph 14(5)(d) or subsection 46(1.1);
CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS AND
COMMENCEMENT
Amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act
8(1) Paragraph
265(2.01)(b) of the Motor Vehicle Act, chapter M-17 of the Revised
Statutes, 1973, is amended by striking out “the fixed penalty
paid or accepted under section 14 of that Act” and substituting “the fixed penalty
paid or accepted under section 14 of that Act, excluding any administrative
fee referred to in paragraph 14(5)(d) of that Act that is required
to be retained by Service New Brunswick under section 115 of that
Act”.
8(2) Section
347.1 of the Act is amended
(a) in subsection
(1) by striking out “Where a person is convicted” and
substituting “Subject
to subsection (1.1), where a person is convicted”;
(b) by adding
after subsection (1) the following:
347.1(1.1) Where an administrative fee is payable under subsection 46(1.1)
of the Provincial Offences Procedure
Act, the administrative fee shall be added to the amount payable
indicated in the notice referred to in subsection (1) and, for the
purposes of this section, full payment of the fine shall not be considered
to have been made if payment of the fine is not accompanied by payment
of the administrative fee.
Amendments to the Service New Brunswick Act
9(1) Section
4 of the Service New Brunswick Act, chapter S-6.2 of the Acts of New
Brunswick, 1989, is amended
(a) in paragraph
(g.6) by striking out “and” at the end of the paragraph;
(b) by
adding after paragraph (g.6) the following:
(g.7) to accept payment of fixed penalties
in accordance with the Provincial
Offences Procedure Act; and
9(2) The
Act is amended by adding after section 15.2 the following:
Administrative
fee under Provincial Offences Procedure
Act
15.3 Where the Corporation accepts payment of
a fixed penalty under the Provincial
Offences Procedure Act, it shall retain that portion of the
fixed penalty representing the administrative fee referred to in paragraph
14(5)(d) of that Act.
9(3) Section
16 of the Act is amended by striking out “except money collected
on behalf of the Province” and substituting “except money collected on behalf
of the Province or a municipality”.
Amendment to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals Act
10 Paragraph
30(4)(c) of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,
chapter S-12 of the Revised Statutes, 1973, is amended by striking
out “excluding any surcharge payable under the Victims Services
Act” and substituting “excluding any surcharge payable
under the Victims Services Act and any administrative fee referred to in paragraph 14(5)(d) of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act”.
Commencement
11 This Act or any provision of it comes into
force on a day or days to be fixed by proclamation.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
Section 1
(a) The existing provision is
as follows:
14(1) A defendant who does not wish to dispute
the charge set out in the ticket may, no later than the time stated
in the ticket for payment, pay a fixed penalty at the address specified
in the ticket.
(b)
i) Consequential amendment.
ii) Consequential amendment.
iii) New provision.
(c) The existing provision is
as follows:
14(3) A person who accepts payment of a fixed
penalty shall endorse the ticket and notice of prosecution accordingly
but, if the ticket is not available for endorsement, that person shall
issue a receipt.
(d) The existing provision is
as follows:
14(5) The amount of the fixed penalty payable
shall be the sum of
(a) the minimum fine set for the offence
charged,
(b) any other additional fine or money
penalty required to be imposed under an Act, and
(c) the surcharge under the Victims Services Act, if any is
payable,
rounded down, where that sum would include
cents as well as dollars, to the nearest complete dollar.
Section 2
Consequential amendment.
Section 3
(a)
i) Consequential amendment.
ii) New provision.
(b) New provision.
(c) Consequential amendment.
(d) The existing provision is
as follows:
46(4) Where the combined total of the fine
and any surcharge imposed under the Victims Services Act produces a sum that includes cents as
well as dollars, the judge may round that total down to the nearest
complete dollar.
Section 4
(a) Consequential amendment.
(b) Consequential amendment.
Section 5
Consequential amendment.
Section 6
The existing provision is as follows:
115(1) Subject to subsection (3), all fines and fixed penalties received
under this Act shall be forwarded to the Minister of Finance.
115(2) The Minister of Finance shall pay to a municipality all fines
and fixed penalties recovered for breaches of by-laws of that municipality.
115(3) All fixed penalties which, if forwarded to the Minister of Finance
under subsection (1) would be paid to a municipality under subsection
(2), may be retained by a municipality or forwarded to it directly.
115(4) The Minister of Finance shall pay to a rural community all fines
and fixed penalties recovered for breaches of by-laws of that rural
community.
115(5) All fixed penalties which, if forwarded
to the Minister of Finance under subsection (1) would be paid to a
rural community under subsection (4), may be retained by a rural community
or forwarded to it directly.
Section 7
New regulation-making authority.
Section 8
1) Consequential amendment.
2)
(a) Consequential amendment.
(b) New provision.
Section 9
1)
(a) Consequential amendment.
(b) New provision.
2) New provision.
3) Consequential amendment.
Section 10
Consequential amendment.
Section 11
Commencement provision.