§ MR. NUSSEY (Pontefract)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, by section 9 of the Prisons Act, 1898, as to the release of a prisoner on payment of a portion of a fine, and the rules made thereunder, any provision is made, similar to that contained in section 21, sub-section (4) of the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879, in respect to payments prior to committal, that the term of imprisonment for non-payment of an unsatisfied balance shall not exceed the maximum term of imprisonment to which the prisoner might have been subjected if the unsatisfied balance had constituted the original amount adjudged to be paid by the conviction, e.g., if the defendant, ordered to pay a fine of £5 and 5s. for costs, or in default two months' imprisonment, pay to the Governor of the prison 5s., will the term of imprisonment be reduced by three days or by one month; and whether the provisions of section 9 extend to the case of a person imprisoned for non-payment of any sum adjudged to be paid by an order (as distinguished from a conviction) either when the sum is a civil debt or otherwise, and whether the sum adjudged be for penalties under section 34 of the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879, or otherwise for costs only?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENTThe answer to both paragraphs is in the negative. Reduction of imprisonment is earned by payment after committal of a proportionate part of the sum for which the prisoner stands committed, whether or not the committal has been altered under the provisions of the Summary Jurisdiction Act referred to.