Okuzeka
Criminal Law & Justice vocabulary · Sentencing & Punishment

Fine

Meaning in criminal law & justice, with examples

/faɪn/nounCore term

In criminal law & justice, fine means: An amount of money that a court or authority orders someone to pay as a punishment for breaking the law.

In Turkish: para cezası, adli para cezası

How it is used

Courts 'impose' a fine and people 'pay' it; the verb is 'be fined': 'He was fined £400'. Fines are the most common sentence for minor offences. A 'fixed penalty' is a set fine given without a court hearing, for example for speeding.

Example sentences

  1. The company was fined fifty thousand pounds for breaking safety rules.

  2. If you do not pay the fine, the amount may increase.

  3. The court imposed a fine and added three points to his driving licence.

Common collocations

  • pay a fine
  • impose a fine
  • heavy fine
  • be fined
  • fixed penalty
  • sentenceThe punishment that a judge gives a person who has been found guilty; as a verb, to give someone a particular punishment.
  • community serviceUnpaid work that an offender must do for the local community, such as cleaning parks or repairing buildings, as a punishment instead of prison.
  • offenceA formal word for an illegal act that the law punishes, from minor ones such as speeding to serious ones such as robbery.
  • imprisonmentThe punishment of being kept in prison for a period of time; also the state of being in prison.

More terms: Sentencing & Punishment

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not legal advice.