### Magistrates Ordinance 《裁判官條例》

60. Special provisions as to warrant of commitment for non-payment of money and as to warrant of distress
(1) A magistrate to whom application is made either to issue a warrant of distress for any sum adjudged to be paid by a conviction or order, or to issue a warrant for committing a person to prison for non-payment of a sum of money adjudged to be paid by a conviction or, in the case of a sum not a civil debt, by an order, or for default of sufficient distress to satisfy any such sum, may, if he deems it expedient to do so, postpone the issue of such warrant until such time and on such conditions, if any, as to him may seem just.
(2) The wearing apparel and bedding of a person and his family and, to the value of $1,000, the tools and implements of his trade shall not be taken under a distress issued by a magistrate. (Amended 24 of 1949 s. 19; 51 of 1981 s. 5)
(3) Where, on application made to a magistrate to issue a warrant for committing a person to prison for non-payment of a sum adjudged to be paid by a conviction or, in the case of a sum not a civil debt, by an order, or for default of sufficient distress to satisfy any such sum, it appears to the magistrate to whom the application is made that, either by payment of part of the said sum, whether in the shape of instalments or otherwise, or by the net proceeds of the distress, the amount of the sum so adjudged has been reduced to such an extent that the unsatisfied balance, if it had constituted the original amount adjudged to be paid by the conviction or order, would have subjected the defendant to a maximum term of imprisonment less than the term of imprisonment to which he is liable under such conviction or order, the magistrate shall, by his warrant of commitment revoke the term of imprisonment, and order the defendant to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding such less maximum term instead of the term originally mentioned in the conviction or order. (See Form 71)

61. Exercise on complaint of power to bind over to keep the peace
(1) The power of a magistrate, on complaint of any person, to adjudge a person to enter into a recognizance and find sureties to keep the peace or to be of good behaviour towards such first-mentioned person shall be exercised by an order upon complaint, and the provisions of this Ordinance shall apply accordingly, and the complainant and defendant and witnesses may be called and examined and cross-examined, and the complainant and defendant shall be subject to costs, as in the case of any other complaint. (See Forms 34-36)

### Magistrates Ordinance 《裁判官條例》

62. Power to reduce or vary security
Where, other than in criminal proceedings, a person has been committed to prison by a magistrate for default in finding sureties, a magistrate may, on application made to him in manner directed by rules made under section 133 by such person or by someone acting on his behalf, inquire into the case of the person so committed, and if, on new evidence produced to the magistrate or proof of a change of circumstances, the magistrate thinks, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, that it is just to do so, he may reduce the amount for which it is proposed the sureties or surety should be bound, or dispense with the sureties or surety, or otherwise deal with the case as he may think just. (See Forms 40, 41)

63. Recognizance taken out of court
When a magistrate has fixed, as respects any recognizance, the amount in which the principal and the sureties, if any, are to be bound, the recognizance, notwithstanding anything in this or any past enactment, need not be entered into before such magistrate, but may, subject to rules made under section 133, be entered into by the parties before another magistrate or before the magistrates’ clerk or before a superintendent or inspector of police or, where any of the parties is in prison, before the Commissioner of Correctional Services; and thereupon all the consequences of law shall ensue and the provisions of this Ordinance with respect to recognizances taken before a magistrate shall apply as if the recognizance had been entered into before a magistrate as heretofore by law required. (See Forms 6-9)

64. Mode of giving security and enforcement thereof
(1) A person shall give security under this Part, whether as principal or surety, either by the deposit of money with the magistrates’ clerk or by an oral or written acknowledgement of the undertaking or condition by which and of the sum for which he is bound, and evidence of such security may be provided by the entry thereof in the register of the proceedings of the magistrates. (See Forms 6-9, 42)

65. Enforcing recognizance for appearance
(1) Where a recognizance is conditioned for the appearance of a person before a magistrate or for his doing some other matter or thing to be done before or by order of a magistrate or in a proceeding before a magistrate, such magistrate, if the recognizance appears to him to be forfeited, may declare the recognizance to be forfeited and enforce payment of the sum due under it in the same manner as if the sum were a fine adjudged by a magistrate to be paid and the amount of the same were ascertained by a conviction: (See Forms 6-9, 38, 43, 54)

### Magistrates Ordinance 《裁判官條例》

67. Enforcing civil debt
(1) Any sum of money recoverable summarily as a civil debt within the meaning of this or any other Ordinance, or in respect of the recovery of which jurisdiction is given by such Ordinance to a magistrate, shall be deemed to be a sum for payment of which a magistrate has authority by law to make an order on complaint under this Ordinance: (See Forms 71A-77)

68. Scale of imprisonment for non-payment of money, etc.
(1) Unless in any enactment it is otherwise provided, the period of imprisonment, which may be imposed by a magistrate exercising summary jurisdiction, in respect of the non-payment of any sum of money adjudged to be paid by a conviction, whether it be a fine or in respect of the property the subject of the offence, or in respect of the injury done by the offender, or in respect of the default of a sufficient distress to satisfy any such sum, shall be such period as, in the opinion of the magistrate, will satisfy the justice of the case, but shall not exceed in any case the maximum fixed by the following scale— (Amended 30 of 1958 Schedule)       Where the amount—  the period of imprisonment is not to exceed—   does not exceed $2,000 7   days   exceeds $2,000 but does not exceed $5,000 14  days   exceeds $5,000 but does not exceed $10,000 1  month   exceeds $10,000 but does not exceed $25,000 3  months   exceeds $25,000 but does not exceed $50,000 6  months   exceeds $50,000 12  months 
(Amended 13 of 1995 s. 57)(2) Where the fine or other sum adjudged to be paid is imposed by a sentence in addition to a term of imprisonment, the imprisonment imposed under this section or any other enactment shall commence from the expiration of the term of imprisonment imposed by the sentence. (Amended 13 of 1995 s. 57)
(3) The Chief Executive in Council may by order published in the Gazette amend the monetary amounts in the scale in subsection (1). (Added 13 of 1995 s. 57. Amended 25 of 1998 s. 2)
[cf. 1879 c. 49 s. 5 U.K.]