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Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

2007 No. 378

county courts

The County Court 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 County Court Fees (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007 and shall come into operation on 24th September 2007.

(2) In this Order “the principal Order” means the County Court Fees Order (Northern Ireland) 1996(2).

Amendments to the principal Order

2.  After Article 7 of the principal Order insert the following new Articles:—

“Exemptions and refunds

8.—(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 2002(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.

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

(a)when, under Article 8, 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.”.

3.  For Schedule 1 to the principal Order there shall be substituted the new Schedule 1 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 3

SCHEDULE

Article 4

“SCHEDULE 1Fees to be taken in proceedings in County Courts

SECTION 1Fees to apply in respect of proceedings not otherwise specifically provided for in any subsequent section of this Schedule

SECTION 2Fees for specified proceedings within the equity and probate jurisdiction

SECTION 3Fees to be taken in respect of proceedings under the Licensing (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, the Registration of Clubs (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 and the Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements (Northern Ireland) Order 1985

SECTION 4Miscellaneous fees relating to civil proceedings and matters

SECTION 5Fees to apply in respect of applications for small claims under Article 30(3) of the Order

SECTION 6Fees to be taken in respect of proceedings under the Criminal Damage (Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 (“the Criminal Damage Order”)

SECTION 7Fees to be taken in respect of proceedings under the Family Law Act 1986

”

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the County Court Fees Order (Northern Ireland) 1996 so as to—

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

on a copy, including a photographic copy, of all or any part of a document filed or any record kept in the office (Section I Fee No.11);

where the search is carried out by an officer of the court (Section I Fee No.22(b));

on the entry of a remitted action where a setting down fee has not already been paid (Section I Fee No.25);

on a counterclaim in equity proceedings (Section II Fee No.7);

on a third party notice in a small claims action (Section V Fee No.4);

on a certificate of readiness in respect of proceedings under the Criminal Damage (Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 (Section VI Fee No.2);

(b)remove the fee on an application for a warrant of arrest under the Protection from Harassment (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (Section IV Fee No.3);

(c)increase a number of fees; and

(d)provide for exemptions from fees payable in the circumstances as outlined in Article 2 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)