E. General and miscellaneous provisions as to punishments 356 Payment by accused persons of fines which may be imposed for minor offences in lieu of appearance in court (1) When any person has been summoned or warned to appear in a magistrates court or has been arrested or has been informed by a peace officer, by written notice referred to in subsection (1) of section one hundred and forty-one or otherwise, that it is intended to institute criminal proceedings against him for any offence, and a prescribed officer has reasonable grounds for believing that the court which will try the said person for such offence will, on convicting such person of such offence, not impose a sentence of imprisonment or a fine exceeding level three, such person may sign and deliver to such prescribed officer a document admitting that he is guilty of the said offence and— (a) deposit with such prescribed officer such sum of money as the latter may fix; or (b) furnish to such prescribed officer such security as the latter thinks sufficient for the payment of any fine which the court trying the case in question may lawfully impose therefor; not exceeding level three or the maximum of the fine with which such offence is punishable, whichever is the lesser, and such person shall thereupon not be required to appear in court to answer a charge of having committed the said offence. [Subsection amended by section 4 of Act 22 of 2001.] (2) The document, when signed and delivered in terms of subsection (1), shall forthwith be transmitted to the clerk of the court before which the person was summoned or warned to appear or, where he has not been summoned or warned to attend a particular court, to the clerk of any magistrates court and shall be entered by the clerk in the records of that court. (3) As soon as the document has been recorded in terms of subsection (2) it shall be laid before the court and the court shall thereupon— (a) proceed to convict such person of the offence charged and forthwith sentence him to a fine not exceeding level three in accordance with law, whether or not it has jurisdiction in terms of section 56 of the Magistrates Court Act [Chapter 7:10]; or Paragraph amended by section 4 of Act 22 of 2001.] (b) by endorsement on the document signify its refusal to convict such person in accordance with this section. (4) If payment of the fine has not been made in accordance with the terms of the security, the security may, if movable property has been accepted therefor, be enforced by the sale thereof, and if any balance of the proceeds of sale remains, after deduction of the amount of the fine, it shall be paid to the offender. (5) If the sum deposited is not sufficient to pay the fine imposed, the balance remaining due shall be recovered from the offender in a manner provided by section three hundred and forty-eight. (6) If the sum deposited is greater than the fine imposed by the court, the difference shall be refunded to the offender. (7) Where the court has refused to convict the person concerned, as provided in paragraph (b) of subsection (3), the sum deposited shall be refunded to the person concerned and he may be prosecuted in the ordinary course and, in that case, if he has already been summoned or warned, he shall be summoned afresh to answer such charge as the public prosecutor may prefer against him. (8) Any magistrate of the court which will try the person concerned for the offence may advise the prescribed officer as to the sum of money which the court is likely to consider an a ppropriate fine in any case and, in fixing the sum of money to be deposited under this section, the prescribed officer shall have regard to such advice. (9) For the purpose of deciding whether to convict the person concerned in accordance with this section or determining the amount of the fine to be imposed, the court may have regard to any statements relevant to the offence charged which have been given to the police by any person having knowledge thereof. (10) Where the document mentioned in subsection (1) purports to have been signed by a director, manager or secretary of a corporate body as the representative of such corporate body, such director, manager or secretary shall, notwithstanding anything contained in proviso (i) to subsection (3) of section three hundred and eighty-five, be presumed to have been authorized by such corporate body to plead guilty on its behalf, unless the contrary is proved. (11) The magistrate who convicted a person under paragraph (a) of subsection (3) may, notwithstanding anything contained in any enactment, set aside any such conviction and order the refund to the person concerned of the fine paid by him in respect thereof, in any case in which the magistrate is satisfied that such person should not have been convicted. 357 Adjudication of minor cases in absence of accused (1) When a summons has been issued in respect of any case in which the court has summary jurisdiction and in which the penalty prescribed by law is a fine, and only in default of payment of such fine, imprisonment, the person summoned need not appear personally and may appear through a legal practitioner duly authorized thereto: