Article 20: Discretion to impose imprisonment only

Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section

1. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 33/2568 (2025)

   Section 20 is a general provision and cannot be used to waive the fine where a special drug statute requires both imprisonment and a fine; the special law must be applied and a fine imposed as well.

   In a methamphetamine distribution case, the Court held that even though it could reduce the penalty below the statutory minimum under a favorable earlier provision, it still had to impose both imprisonment and a fine because the special drug law required both; the general discretion in Section 20 could not be used to omit the fine. It could not, however, correct the appellate omission because the prosecution had not appealed and doing so would increase the penalty.

2. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 3961/2563 (2020)

   Where a statute prescribes both imprisonment and a fine, the court may under Section 20 impose imprisonment alone; but a bounty for the informer, which must be calculated from the fine, cannot be awarded if no fine is imposed.

   The Court read the gambling statute as prescribing both imprisonment and a fine but not commanding both in every case, so under Section 20 the court could impose imprisonment alone where appropriate. It added that a bounty for the informer under the gambling law can only be ordered when a fine is imposed, because the bounty is calculated from the amount of the fine; where the appellate court imposed imprisonment only, no bounty could be paid.

3. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 3584/2557 (2014)

   Section 20 is a provision conferring judicial discretion to impose imprisonment alone, not an offense-defining or penalty-defining provision; a judgment is not unlawful merely because it omits to cite Section 20.

   The prosecution argued that the judgment was defective for not citing Section 20. The Court held that Section 20 merely empowers the court to exercise discretion to impose imprisonment alone where a law prescribes both imprisonment and a fine; it is not a provision defining an offense or a penalty, so failure to cite it does not make the judgment unlawful.

Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.