S.L. 549.127 Art. 3Out of court settlement.

(1) When the Authority believes that a person has committed an offence against any provision of the Act or regulations made thereunder, the Authority may enter into an out of court settlement agreement in writing with the offender, whereby the offender pays an amount equivalent to a fine that would be due by way of a penalty, and upon the signing of the said agreement by both parties, all criminal liability of the offender under the said Act and regulations, with regard to the offences to which the out of court settlement agreement has been entered, shall be extinguished:

Provided that payment of the penalty under the out of court settlement agreement and the carrying out of any imposed action, shall not extinguish any civil liability to make good damages to any person, or to the Authority, or to the environment in terms of environmental liability.

(2) The agreement shall contain:

(a) a description of the offence;

(b) the steps to be taken by the offender to remedy the offence; and

(c) the penalty due by the offender in respect of the offence as specified in the Schedule.

(3) Where the offender does not observe the out of court settlement agreement put forward by the Authority within the stipulated time frame, the Authority shall proceed to institute criminal proceedings against the offender:

Provided that the time frame stipulated by the Authority in such out of court settlement agreements, shall not be less than fifteen (15) days and not more than sixty (60) days.