Article 22 Offences, Penalties and Proceedings

Any person who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a direction given to him under article 15(2) or article 16(2) within the period and in the manner specified therein or who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a direction given to him under article 18(2) at the time and in the manner specified shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

Any person guilty of an offence under paragraph 6(b) or (d) of Schedule 1 to this Order shall be liable—

Any person who fails without reasonable excuse to notify the Governor of compliance with a direction under article 15(2) or article 16(2) or to provide the evidence of compliance required by him under article 18(1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

Any person guilty of an offence under paragraph 6(a) or (c) of Schedule 1 to this Order shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding £5,000 or its equivalent or to both.

Any person who without reasonable excuse deducts from an amount transferred to the escrow account in compliance with a direction given to him under article 15(2) or article 16(2) any sum which has not been certified by the Governor under article 18(4) as being properly deductible shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5,000 or its equivalent.

Any person who without reasonable excuse closes an account described in article 19(1) pending a transfer under article 20 of the amount remitted or any part of it shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5,000 or its equivalent.

Where any body corporate is guilty of an offence under this Order, and that offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

An indictable offence which is triable summarily under this Order, or a summary offence thereunder, may be so tried if an information is laid at any time within 3 years after the commission of the offence and within 12 months after the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the prosecutor to justify the proceedings comes to his knowledge.

Proceedings against any person for an offence under this Order may be taken before the appropriate court in the Territory having jurisdiction in the place where that person is for the time being.

No proceedings for an offence under this Order, other than for a summary offence, shall be instituted in the Territory except by or with the consent of the principal public officer of the Territory having responsibility for criminal prosecutions:

• Provided that this paragraph shall not prevent the arrest, or the issue or execution of a warrant for the arrest, of any person in respect of such an offence, or the remand in custody or on bail of any person charged with such an offence, notwithstanding that the necessary consent to the institution of proceedings for the offence has not been obtained.