Definition of Fine
n. A pecuniary punishment or penalty imposed by lawful tribunal upon person convicted of crime or misdemeanor. See e.g. 18 U.S.C.A. § 3571. It may include a forfeiture or penalty recoverable in a civil action, and, in criminal convictions, may be in addition to imprisonment. A fine constitutes a "sentence” as defined in Rules of Criminal Procedure. State v. Pitts, 548 P.2d 1202, 1204, 26 Ariz.App. 390. See also Penalty.
v. To impose a pecuniary punishment or mulct. To sentence a person convicted of an offense to pay a penalty in money.
In imposing fines, modern statutes require the court to consider the ability of the defendant to pay, the burden such will have on dependents of the defendant, and the effect such fine will have on the ability of the defendant to make restitution to the victim. E.g., Model Penal Code § 7.02(3)(b); 18 U.S.C.A. § 3571.
Conveyancing. An amicable composition or agreement of a suit, either actual or fictitious, by leave of the court, by which the lands in question become, or are acknowledged to be, the right of one of the parties. Hitz v. Jenks, 123 U.S. 297, 8 S.Ct. 143, 31 L.Ed. 156. Fines were abolished in England by St. 3 & 4 Wm. IV, c. 74, substituting a disentailing deed. A fine is so called because it puts an end not only to the suit thus commenced, but also to all other suits and controversies concerning the same matter. The party who parted with the land, by acknowledging the right of the other, was said to levy the fine, and was called the "cognizor” or "conusor,” while the party who recovered or received the estate was termed the "cognizee” or "conusee,” and the fine was said to be levied to him.
Executed fine. See Executed.
Tenure law. A money payment made by a feudal tenant to his lord. The most usual fine was that payable on the admittance of a new tenant, but there was also due in some manors fines upon alienation, on a license to demise the lands, or on the death of the lord, or other events.
That's the definition of Fine in Black's Law Dictionary 6th Edition. Courtesy of Cekhukum.com.
