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. Co. Litt. 120; 2 Bla. Com. 349 ; Ba cqn, Abr. Fines and Recoveries. Fines were abolished in England by stat. 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 74. Their use was not unknown in the United States, but has been either expressly abolished or become obsolete. See 1 Steph. Com. 514.
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 mat ter. Such concords, says Doderidge (Eng. Lawyer 84), have been in use in the civil law, and are called transactions, whereof they say thus: Trans actiones sunt de eis gum in controversies sunt, a lite futura aut pendente ad certain compositionem reducuntur, dando aliquid vel accipiendo. Or short er, thus: Transactio est de re dubia et lite ancipite ne dum ad linem ducta, 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 per form hls covenant ; although a fine may be levied upon any writ by which lands may be demanded, charged, or bound. It has also been defined an ac knowledgment on record of a previous gift or feoff ment, and prima facie carries a fee, although it may be limited to an estate for life or in fee-tail. Prest. Cony. 200, 202, 268, 269 ; 2 Bla. Com. 348.
The stet. 18 Edw. I., called modus Zevandi fines, declares and regulatea the manner in which they should be levied and carried on ; and that is as follows: The party to whom the land is conveyed or assured commences an action at law against the other, generally an action of covenant, by suing out a writ of prcecipe, 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 Licentia concordandi, or leave to compromise the suit. The concord, or agreement itself, after leave
obtained by the court: this is usually an acknowl edgment from the deforcianta that the lands in question are the lands of. the complainants. The note of the fine, which 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 acknowl edged or levied. See Cruise, Pines ; Bacon, Abr. Fines and Recoveries; Comyns, Dig. Fine.
In Criminal Law. PeCuniary punishment imposed by a lawful tribunal upon a person convicted of crime or misdemeanor. See Shepp. Touchst. 2 ; Bacon, Abr. Fines and Amercements; 1 Bish. Cr. L. § 940. It may include a forfeiture or penalty recoverable in a civil action ; Hanscomb v. Russell, 11 Gray (Mass.) 373 ; Atchison & N. R. Co. v. Baty, 6 Neb. 37, 29 Am. Rep. 356. A fine abates if unpaid at the death of the offender; U. S. v. Mitchell, 163 Fed. 1014.
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 ex cessive fines imposed." VIIIth Amendment ; Cooley, Const. Lim. 377. This applies to na tional and not to state legislation ; Pervear v. Massachusetts, 5 Wall. (U. S.) 480, 18 L. Ed. 608. The supreme court cannot, on ha beas corpus, revise the sentence of an inferior court on the ground that the fine was exces sive ; In re Watkins, 7 Pet. (U. S.) 568, 8 L. Ed. 786.
The power to fine reposed in a court of last resort is not unlimited, but is limited by the obligation not to impose excessive fines ; Standard Oil Co. of Indiana v. State of Mis souri, 224 U. S. 271, 32 Sup. Ct. 406, 56 L. Ed. 760.