Cap. 9 Art. 533Power of court to sentence accused to the paymentofcosts incurred in the employment of experts.

(1) In the case of proceedings instituted by the Attorney General or by the Police the court shall, in pronouncing ex officio, judgment or in any subsequent order, sentence the person convicted or the persons convicted, jointly or severally, to the payment, wholly or in part, to the registrar, of the costs incurred in connection with the employment in the proceedings of any expert or referee, including such experts as would have been appointed in the examination of the process verbal of the inquiry, within such period and in such amount as shall be determined in the judgment or order.

(2) In default of payment of the costs as determined by the court, the court shall, on the application of the registrar, issue a warrant of arrest against the person sentenced ordering the appearance of such person, and the court, upon ascertaining the identity of such person, shall convert the amount so determined into imprisonment at the rate of one day for every eleven euro and sixty-five cents (€11.65) or fraction thereof and shall commit the person convicted to imprisonment accordingly: Provided that a person committed to imprisonment for non-payment of such costs may acquit himself of the substituted punishment by paying the costs determined by the court with the deduction of such amount thereof as corresponds to the part of the punishment undergone at the rate laid down in this article.

(3) Nevertheless, it shall be lawful for the registrar to recover the costs aforesaid as a civil debt by making a declaration to that effect in the record of the case at any time until the costs have been converted into imprisonment; and, on such declaration being made, the provisions of sub-article (2) shall cease to apply.

(4) The recovery of the costs as a civil debt shall be obtained by an application to the same court for the enforcement of the sentence or order, in the manner laid down in the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure.