23 Warrants for arrest and imprisonment
Subject to section 23A, the Speaker may issue a warrant for the arrest and imprisonment of
any person who—
(a) has been adjudged by Parliament to be guilty of contempt; and
(b) has been sentenced to imprisonment or has failed to pay a fine or undergo some
other punishment to which he has been sentenced.
23A Judicial authority for issuance of warrants by Speaker
Where Parliament sitting as a court has imposed any fine for the commission of an offence
under Part V, and the offender has not paid the fine in full within the period stipulated by
Parliament or, if the period is not so stipulated, within 21 days of the imposition of the fine,
the Clerk or any officer of Parliament authorised by the Clerk may forthwith transmit to the
clerk or registrar of any court having competent jurisdiction to impose the fine a document
signed by the Speaker setting out the particulars of the offender, the offence, the fine and
the custodial sentence imposed by Parliament in the event of the fine not being paid,
whereupon —
(a) the document shall be entered by the clerk or registrar in the records of that
court: and
(b) as soon as the document has been recorded in terms of paragraph (a) it shall be
laid before the court and the court shall thereupon —
(i) sentence the offender to the term of imprisonment imposed by
Parliament in default of payment of the fine; and
(ii) by endorsement on a copy of the document authorise the Speaker to
issue the appropriate warrant of arrest and imprisonment in accordance with
this Part.
24 Form of warrants
(1) A warrant referred to in section twenty-three shall—
(a) state that the person named in the warrant has been adjudged guilty of a
contempt; and
(b) specify the nature of the contempt.
(2) Subject to subsection (1), it shall not be necessary to observe any particular form in a
warrant referred to in section twenty-three.
25 Arrests without warrant
Any person who creates or joins in any disturbance in or within the vicinity of Parliament
whilst Parliament is actually sitting may be arrested without warrant on the verbal order of
the Speaker and kept in the custody of an officer of Parliament or a police officer until a
warrant is issued for his detention in prison.
26 Execution of warrants, etc
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