Fiscal fine

A fiscal fine is a fixed penalty of £50 to £500 offered by the Procurator Fiscal as an alternative to prosecution in court.

A fiscal fine, also called a fiscal fixed penalty, is offered by the Procurator Fiscal under section 302 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 instead of prosecuting you. Since 1 December 2025, the scale has nine levels from £50 to £500; the previous maximum was £300. The offer gives you 28 days to refuse it by telling the court named in it. If you do nothing, you are treated as having accepted it, and it can be paid by instalments if the offer allows. Refusing is treated as a request to be tried, so the fiscal may then prosecute. Accepting is not a conviction, but it can be mentioned to a court for two years if you are prosecuted for another offence, and it is spent after three months for disclosure purposes.

Checked as at 25 September 2026. General information only, not legal advice.