Section 117 of Traffic Act CAP 403: Minor traffic offences

(1) The Minister may prescribe—
(a) a schedule of minor traffic offences (in this section referred to as "the scheduled minor offences") which may be dealt with and prosecuted in accordance with the provisions of this section, and may for the purposes of this section prescribe a statutory maximum penalty, which shall not exceed the penalty prescribed for such offence by this Act, for any of the scheduled minor offences to be so dealt with and prosecuted; and
(b) a form of police notification of a traffic offence for use under this section.
(2) Subject to this section, any statutory maximum penalty prescribed under subsection (1) shall, notwithstanding that any other penalty may be prescribed by this Act, have effect for offences dealt with under this section.
(3) Notwithstanding any provision contained in this or any other Act, it shall be lawful for any police officer to serve, either personally or by affixing the same prominently to the vehicle concerned, upon the owner or person in charge of any motor vehicle who is reasonably suspected of having committed any of the scheduled minor offences, a police notification of a traffic offence in the prescribed form charging such person with having committed the offence or offences indicated in the notification and requiring such person to attend court to answer such charge or charges, at such time (which if the police notification is served personally on the owner or person in charge of the motor vehicle, may be within forty-eight hours of such service; or if the police notification is affixed prominently to the vehicle concerned, shall not be sooner than seven days after the date of such service) as is shown on such notification.
(4) Such notification as aforesaid shall for all purposes be regarded as a summons issued under the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 75):
Provided that the person served with the notification shall not be obliged to attend court in answer to the charge if he has pleaded guilty in writing and sent the notification, together with the amount of the statutory maximum penalty or penalties for the offence or offences to which he has pleaded guilty, by prepaid registered post or by hand, to the court indicated in the notification so as to reach that court within the time indicated in the notification.
(5) The court may, on receipt of a plea of guilty, proceed to conviction and may, after considering any mitigating circumstances stated in writing or personally by the accused, pass a sentence imposing the statutory maximum penalty or remitting the penalty in whole or in part and direct that a refund of the whole or of any portion of the penalty remitted to be made to the accused.
(6) If any person served with a notification under this section fails to comply with such notification, the person to be liable for the offence shall be the registered owner of the vehicle or, when the registered owner is a company, the person appointed by the company to be liable under this subsection or, in default of such appointment, the secretary, or person performing the duties of secretary, of such company, unless it is shown by such person, owner or secretary, as the case may be, that he was not in charge of the vehicle at the relevant time and he satisfies the court that he has given all information at his disposal to the police or the court to enable the person who was in charge at the relevant time to be summoned.
(7) A copy of the notification shall be placed before the court by which the charge is to be dealt with at the time fixed for the attendance of the accused to answer the charge and, unless the court otherwise directs, such copy may be used as a charge sheet.
(8) If any person having been served with a notification issued under this section fails either to attend the court on the day and at the time specified in such notice or to plead guilty and pay the statutory maximum penalty in the manner indicated before such day, he may be brought before the court either by summons or by warrant and, unless he shows good cause to the contrary, shall be guilty of an offence and liable forthwith by order of the court to a fine not exceeding two hundred shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month.
(9)
(a) If any person, other than an authorized person, removes from a vehicle a police notification of a traffic offence which has been affixed thereto by a police officer in pursuance of this section, or any portion of such notification, or tears or defaces the same, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on first conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred shillings, and on each subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.
(b) In this subsection, “authorized person” means the owner or person in charge of the vehicle or any person authorized by the owner to remove the notification.
(10) Any owner or person in charge of a vehicle who finds affixed thereto a police notification of a traffic offence which appears to have been torn or defaced so that it is not fully legible shall within two days report, either in writing or personally, to the police station of the area in which the notification was found, and if he fails so to report he shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred shillings.