Section 37 Fixed penalty notices: EnglandI1
England and Wales
A relevant enforcement authority in England that has reason to believe that a person has committed an offence under, or under regulations made under, any of the following may give the person a fixed penalty notice in respect of the offence—
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section 1 (sale of tobacco etc to people born on or after 1 January 2009);
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section 2 (purchase of tobacco etc on behalf of others);
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section 5 (age of sale notice at point of sale: England);
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section 10 (sale of vaping or nicotine products to under 18s);
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section 11 (purchase of vaping or nicotine products on behalf of under 18s);
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section 13 (displays of products or prices in England);
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section 15 (free distribution and discount of products);
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section 17 (offences in connection with retail licences: England).
A fixed penalty notice is a notice offering a person the opportunity to discharge any liability to conviction for the offence to which the notice relates by payment of an amount specified in the notice within the relevant period.
The amount specified in a fixed penalty notice in respect of an offence under section 17 must be an amount equal to level 4 on the standard scale of fines for summary offences.
The amount specified in a fixed penalty notice in respect of any other offence must be £200.
For the purposes of this section “the relevant period” is the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the fixed penalty notice is given.
A fixed penalty notice must explain—
that the relevant enforcement authority in England has reason to believe that the person has committed the offence, and why,
the effect of subsection (7), and
when and how payment may be made.
Where a fixed penalty notice has been given to a person (and has not been withdrawn)—
no proceedings may be instituted for the offence before the end of the relevant period, and
the person may not be convicted of the offence if the person pays—
the full amount of the fixed penalty in the notice before the end of the relevant period, or
50% of that amount before the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the day on which the relevant period starts.
Where proceedings are instituted for the offence after the end of the relevant period, that period is to be disregarded for the purposes of calculating the period mentioned in section 127(1) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980.
A fixed penalty notice given under this section may be withdrawn by the relevant enforcement authority in England that gave it at any time before a payment is made in pursuance of the notice.