To clarify one contentious point regarding the Zimbabwe Republic Police and roadblocks, you Do Not have to carry money with you, and according to the law, you can insist on paying at the nearest police station if you cannot pay the fine on the spot.

According to Bill Watch 33/2012 from Veritas, in Parliament last month The Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs was asked about the way the police deal with spot fines and gave an impromptu reply outlining in some detail what the law says on the subject. Points he made included the following:

• spot fines are legal and constitutional
• the maximum spot fine per offence is $20 [a level 3 fine]
• spot fines are for use only for petty crimes where guilt is admitted by the offender – a crime warranting a fine of more than $20 should be taken to court
• if the offender cannot pay on the spot, he or she can insist on paying at the nearest police station
• records of all spot fines imposed are submitted to a magistrate to be reviewed, as a check to ensure police are acting within the law
• the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs supports the proper use of the spot fine system because it helps to counter congestion of the court system by large numbers of petty cases in which guilt is admitted.

This entry was posted on August 27th, 2012 at 2:01 pm by Amanda Atwood and is filed under Governance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.