Does the word "penal" mean creating a disability or forfeiture?

However, it has been held that the word "penal" in that passage means creating a disability or forfeiture: A.G. v. Sillem (1864), 2 H. & C. 431 at 509, 159 E.R. 178, per Pollock C.B. The rules for interpreting penal statutes in the sense of those imposing a fine or imprisonment are set out in Craies on Statute Law, 7th ed., at pp. 529-35. Where there is ambiguity, the following is an appropriate statement of the law: "Those who contend that a penalty may be inflicted must show that the words of the Act distinctly enact that it shall be incurred under the present circumstances. They must fail if the words are merely equally capable of a construction that would, and one that would not, inflict the penalty": Brett J. in Dickenson v. Fletcher (1873), L.R. 9 C.P. 1 at 7.