Offences and penalties

(1) Any person who, for the purpose of entering Belize or of remaining therein, or of assisting any other person to enter Belize or to remain therein, in contravention of this Act– (a) fabricates or falsifies any passport, permit, certificate or other document; or (b) uses, utters or attempts to use or utter– (i) any passport, permit, certificate or other document which has not been issued by lawful authority or which he is not entitled to use or utter; or (ii) any fabricated or falsified passport, permit, certificate or other document, knowing it to have been fabricated or falsified, commits an offence. (2) Any person who47 (a) makes a statement which to his knowledge is untrue in a declaration required to be made by an applicant for the issue of a temporary permit to facilitate him to travel to the Mexican and Guatemalan towns and villages as agreed between the Government of Belize and the Governments of Mexico and Guatemala; (b) obstructs, hinders or opposes an immigration officer or police officer in the execution of his duty under this Act; (c) without lawful excuse knowingly harbours or conceals– (i) any other person who is within Belize in contravention of this Act; or (ii) any other person who, having entered Belize under the authority of a permit issued under this Act, has contravened or failed to comply with any condition subject to which the permit is granted; (d) fails to comply with or contravenes the conditions under which any permit, certificate or other document has been issued to him under this Act; (e) being a prohibited immigrant, disembarks in Belize without previously obtaining a permit issued under this Act; (f) contravenes or fails to comply with any of the conditions subject to which any permit has been granted under this Act; 48 (g) directly or indirectly, instigates, commands, counsels, procures, solicits or in any manner purposely aids, facilitates, encourages or promotes the commission of any offence under this Act, whether by his act, presence or otherwise; or (h) employs any person who is not in possession of an employment permit, commits an (3) Any person who commits an offence against any of the provisions of this Act for which no penalty is prescribed shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and term of imprisonment, provided that the punishment for the first offence under this Act shall not be less than a fine of one thousand dollars, and the punishment for a second or subsequent offence under this Act shall not be less than a fine of three thousand dollars or imprisonment for one year, provided further that where a person is found guilty of the offence of employing a person who is not in possession of an employment permit contrary to sub-section (2)(h), the Court shall, in addition to the penalties prescribed above, order that the employer shall pay the expenses of removing such immigrant from Belize. (4) Without prejudice to any other offence created by this Act, it is hereby declared that the offence under sub-section (2) (h), of employing a person not in possession of an employment permit shall be an offence of strict liability and in any prosecution for such offence– (a) it shall not be necessary for the prosecution to prove that the accused person had knowledge that the employee was not in possession of an employment permit; and (b) it shall not be a defence for the accused person to prove that he had no such knowledge. (5) Where any person is convicted of an offence or of an attempt to commit an offence or of soliciting or inciting the commission of an offence under this Act and the court by which such person is convicted finds that any vehicle, vessel or aircraft was used or employed by such person in the commission, or to facilitate the commission, of the offence of which he is convicted, such vehicle, vessel or aircraft shall be forfeited. CAP. 91. (6) The owner of any such vehicle, vessel or aircraft in respect of which an order of forfeiture has been made under sub- section (5) of this section, shall have all the rights of appeal of an accused person under Part IX of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act. (7) For the purposes of this section, “vehicle”, “vessel” or “aircraft” respectively include everything contained in, being on or attached to any vehicle, vessel or aircraft, as the case may be, which in the opinion of the court forms part of the equipment of such vehicle, vessel or aircraft.