FINE. In 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. Coke, Litt. 120 ; 2 Blackstone, Comm. 349 ; Bacon, Abr. Fines and Recoveries.
A fine is so called because it puts an end not only to the suit thus commenoed, but also to all ether suits and controversies concerning the same matter. Such concords, says Doddridge (Eng. Lawyer, 84, 85), have been in use in the civil law, and are called transactions, whereof they say thus : Traneactionea aunt de eie glue in controversia aunt, a lite flaunt ant pendente ad certain compositionem reducuntur, dando a liquid eel accipiendo. Or shorter, thus : Traneac• do eet de re dubia et lite ancipite ne duet ad finer iucto, non gratuita pactio. It is commonly defined an assurance by matter of record, and. is founded upon a supposed previously existing right, and upon a writ requiring the party to perform his covenant; although a fine may he levied upon any writ by which lands may be demanded, oharged, or bound. It has also been defined an acknow ledgment on reoord of a previous gift or feoff ment, and prima facie oarrias a fee, although it may he limited to an estate for life or in fee-tail. Preston, Cony. 200, 202, 268, 269; 2 Blackstone, Comm. 348, 349.
3. The stet. 18 Edw. I., called modu4 levondi fines, declares and regulates the manner in which they should be levied and carried en ; and that is as follows. The party to whom the land is con veyed or assured commences an action at law against the other, generally an action of covenant, by suing out a writ of prtecipe, called a writ of covenant, that the one shall convey the lands to the other, on the breach of which agreement the action is brought. The suit being thus commenced,
then follows the Heenan concordandi, or leave to compromise the suit. The concord, or agreement itself, after leave obtained by the court: this is usually an acknowledgment from the deforciants that the lands in question are the lends of the com plainants. The note of the fine, whioh is only an abstract of the writ of covenant and the concord; naming the parties, the parcels of land, and the agreement. The foot of the fine, or the conclusion of it, which includes the whole matter, reciting the parties, day, year, and place, and before whom it was acknowledged or levied. See Cruise, Fines • Bacon, Abr. Knee and Recureriee Comyns, Dig. !Fine.
In Criminal Law. Pecuniary punish ment imposed by a lawful tribunal upon a person convicted of crime or misdemeanor. See Sheppard, Touchst. 2; Bacon, Abr. Fines and Amercements.
4. The amount of the fine is frequently left to the discretion of the court, who ought to proportion the fine to the offence. To pre vent the abuse of excessive fines, the consti tution of the United States directs that "ex cessive bail shall not be required, nor excess ive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." Amendm. to the Constitution, art. 8.