I hereby promulgate the Law for Temporary Measures concerning Fine (bakkin), etc.
Signed:HIROHITO, Seal of the Emperor
This eighteenth day of the twelfth month of the twenty-third year of Showa (December 18, 1948)
Prime Minister YOSHIDA Shigeru
The Law for Temporary Measures concerning Fine (bakkin), etc.
Article 1. Special regulations concerning the amount of fine and minor fine, etc. to keep up with the change of economic situation shall be covered by this Law for the time being.
Article 2. Fine shall be a thousand yen or upwards regardless of the provisions of Art.15 of the Penal Code (Law No.45 of 1907) and Art.20 of the Law for Enforcement of the Penal Code (Law No.29 of 1908). However, in case the penalty is mitigated, the amount of fine may be lowered to less than a thousand yen.
Minor fine shall be five yen or upwards but less than a thousand yen regardless of the provisions of Art.17 of the Penal Code and Art.20 of the Law for Enforcement of the Penal Code.
Article 3. In regard to the fine provided for the offences mentioned below, its maximumamount shall be fifty times as much as the maximum amount for each offence respectively:
(1) Offences in the Penal Code except those in Art.152;
(2) Offences in the Law for the Punishment of Acts of Violence, etc.(Law No.60 of 1926);
(3) Offences in the Law for the Adjustment of Penal Regulations concerning Economic Affairs (Law No.4 of 1944).
In Art.152 of the Penal Code, "one yen or downwards" shall be "fifty yen or downwards."
Article 4. Among the fine provided for offences (excluding offences in by-laws) other than those mentioned in each item of Par.1 of the preceding Article, the fine of which the maximum amount is less than two thousand yen shall be two thousand yen in the maximum and the fine of which the minimum amount is less than a thousand yen shall be a thousand yen in the minimum. However, this shall not apply in case the amount of fine is fixed by multiplying a given amount by a certain number.
If, in the case of the proviso to the preceding paragraph, the amount of fine falls short of a thousand yen, it shall be made a thousand yen.
Among the minor fine provided for offences in the first paragraph, the minor fine whose amount is especially fixed shall be deemed to have no such amount. However, this shall not apply in case the amount of minor fine is fixed by multiplying a given amount by a certain number.
Article 5. In case any law leaves the provisions of fine to an order and its maximum which thereby can be prescribed is less than two thousand yen, the maximum shall be two thousand yen.
Article 6. In Art.25 of the Penal Code, "a fine of five thousand yen or downwards" shall be "a fine of fifty thousand yen or downwards."
Article 7. In Par.3 of Art.60, Par.1 of Art.199 and Art.217 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Law No.131 of 1948), "a fine of five hundred yen or downwards" shall be "a fine of twenty-five thousand yen or downwards" for offences in the laws enumerated in each item of Par.1 of Art.3 and "a fine of two thousand yen or downwards" for all other offences.
For offences in the laws enumerated in each item of Par.1 of Art.3 "a fine of five thousand yen or downwards" in Art.284 of the Code of Criminal Procedure shall be "a fine of fifty thousand yen or downwards," and "a fine of more than five thousand yen" in Par.2 of Art.285 of the same Code shall be "a fine of more than fifty thousand yen."
In Par.1 of Art.461 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, "a fine of five thousand yen or downwards" shall be "a fine of fifty thousand yen or downwards."
In Par.3 of Art.495 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, "twenty yen" shall be "two hundred yen."
Supplementary Provisions:
1. The present Law shall come into force as from February 1, 1949.
2. To the penal provisions which are laid down in by-laws and are in force at the time of enforcement of this Law, the provisions of Art.2 shall not apply for the period of six months from the day of enforcement of this Law. In case these penal provisions are applied to illegal acts committed before six months lapse after the enforcement of this Law, the provisions of Art.2 shall not apply even after the lapse of six months from the enforcement of this Law.
3. The provisions of Art.4 shall apply even to the penal provisions of laws passed in the third session of the National Diet.