The Magistrates’ Courts Fees (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

2007 No. 379

magistrates’ courts

The Magistrates’ Courts Fees (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007

Made

30th August 2007

Coming into operation

24th September 2007

The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 116(1) and (1A) of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978(1), after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and with the concurrence of the Treasury, hereby makes the following Order:—

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Magistrates’ Courts Fees (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007 and shall come into operation on 24^th September 2007.

(2) In this Order “the principal Order” means the Magistrates’ Courts Fees Order (Northern Ireland) 1996(2).

Amendments to the principal Order

2.  After Article 4(4) of the principal Order insert the following:—

“(5) Where it appears to the Lord Chancellor that the payment of any fee specified in Schedule 1 would, owing to the exceptional circumstances of the particular case, involve undue hardship, he may reduce or remit the fee in that case.”.

3.  After Article 9 of the principal Order insert the following new Articles:—

“Exemptions and refunds

10.— (1) No fee shall be payable under this Order by a party who, at the time when a fee would otherwise become payable—

(a) is in receipt of any qualifying benefit, and

(b) is not in receipt of legal aid under Part II of the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(3) for the purposes of the proceedings.

(2) The following are qualifying benefits for the purposes of paragraph (1)(a) above—

(a) income support under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(4);

(b) income-based jobseeker’s allowance under the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995(5);

(c) guarantee credit under the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002(6);

(d) working tax credit, provided that—

(i) child tax credit is being paid to the party or otherwise following a claim for child tax credit made jointly by the members of a married couple or an unmarried couple (as defined respectively in section 3(5) and (6) of the Tax Credits Act 2000(7)) which includes the party; or

(ii) there is a disability element or severe disability element (or both) to the tax credit received by the party;

and that the gross annual income taken into account for the calculation of the working tax credit is £16,017 or less.

11.— (1) Subject to paragraph (2), where a fee has been paid at a time—

(a) when, under Article 10, it was not payable, the fee shall be refunded;

(b) where the Lord Chancellor, if he had been aware of all the circumstances, would have reduced the fee, the amount by which the fee would have been reduced shall be refunded; and

(c) where the Lord Chancellor, if he had been aware of all the circumstances, would have remitted the fee under Article 4(5), the fee shall be refunded.

(2) No refund shall be made under paragraph (1) unless the party who paid the fee applies within 6 months of paying the fee.

(3) The Lord Chancellor may extend the period of 6 months referred to in paragraph (2) if he considers that there is good reason for an application being made after the end of the period of 6 months.”.

4.  For Schedules 1 and 2 to the principal Order there shall be substituted the new Schedules 1 and 2 set out in the Schedule to this Order.

Signed by the authority of the Lord Chancellor

Bridget Prentice

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Ministry of Justice

Dated 16th August 2007

We concur

Steve McCabe

Claire Ward

Two of the Lords Commissioners

of Her Majesty’s Treasury

Dated 30th August 2007

Article 4

SCHEDULE

Article 4

“SCHEDULE 1 Court Fees

Article 3

SCHEDULE 2 Fees Payable for Service of a Summons or Process

”

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Magistrates’ Courts Fees Order (Northern Ireland) 1996 so as to:

(a) introduce the following new fees in Schedule 1:—

on a copy notice of appeal lodged with a Clerk of Petty Sessions or process in relation to civil proceedings (Fee No.9) ;

on copy orders, decrees or documents not otherwise provided for including certified, sealed or produced online (Fee No.56);

under the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (Fee Nos.68-72);

under the Family Homes and Domestic Violence (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (Fee Nos.73-76);

under the Domestic Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 (Fee Nos.77 and 78);

(b) increase a number of fees to be taken in respect of proceedings in magistrates’ courts; and

(c) provide for exemptions from fees payable in the circumstances as outlined in Article 3 and refunds where appropriate.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment of the costs and benefits of this Order (and other Orders relating to court fees) was placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament and is available on the Court Service’s web-site at www.courtsni.gov.uk.

(1)

1978 c. 23 as amended by the Courts Act 2003 (c. 39)

(2)

S.R. 1996 No. 102 as amended by S.R. 1996 No. 494, S.R. 1997 No. 179, S.R. 1998 No. 410, S.R. 2002 No. 343, S.R. 2004 No. 339 and S.R. 2004 No. 527

(3)

S.I. 1981/228 (N.I. 8)

(4)

1992 c. 7

(5)

S.I. 1995/2705 (N.I. 15)

(6)

2002 c. 14

(7)

2002 c. 21