The Public Service (Civil Servants and Others) Pensions Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014

Forfeiture: offences committed by members N.I.

165.—(1) If a member is convicted of a relevant offence, the scheme manager may to the extent the scheme manager considers appropriate withhold benefits payable under this scheme to or in respect of the member.

(2) Paragraph (3) applies if benefits are to be withheld as a result of an offence falling within paragraph (b) of the definition of “relevant offence”.

(3) The scheme manager may only withhold that part of a person’s pension that exceeds any guaranteed minimum to which the person is entitled under—

(a) section 10 of the 1993 Act (earner’s guaranteed minimum); or

(b) section 13(1) of that Act [F1 (minimum pensions for widows, widowers and surviving civil partners)] .

(4) In this regulation—

“forfeiture certificate” means a certificate stating that the [F2 Minister of the Crown] issuing the certificate considers that the offence—

(a) has been gravely injurious to the interests of the State or

(b) is liable to lead to serious loss of confidence in the public service; and

“relevant offence” means—

[F3 (a)] one or more offences under the Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1989(2) [F4 , or under section 18 of, or listed in section 33(3)(a) of, the National Security Act 2023,] for which the member has been sentenced on the same occasion to—

(i) a term of imprisonment of at least 10 years; or

(ii) 2 or more consecutive terms of imprisonment which add up to at least 10 years;

[F5 (b)] [F5 an] offence committed in connection with service as a public servant and in respect of which the Department has issued a forfeiture certificate.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in reg. 165(3)(b) substituted (with effect in accordance with of the amending Rule) by The Public Service (Civil Servants and Others) Pensions (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (S.R. 2022/67), regs. 1(2), 52(a)

F2 Words in reg. 165(4) substituted (with effect in accordance with of the amending Rule) by The Public Service (Civil Servants and Others) Pensions (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (S.R. 2022/67), regs. 1(2), 52(b)

F3 Word in reg. 165(4) substituted (with effect in accordance with of the amending Rule) by The Public Service (Civil Servants and Others) Pensions (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (S.R. 2022/67), regs. 1(2), 52(c)

F4 Words in reg. 165(4) inserted (20.12.2023) by The National Security Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments of Subordinate Legislation) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1267), reg. 1(2), Sch. para. 37(2)

F5 Word in reg. 165(4) substituted (with effect in accordance with of the amending Rule) by The Public Service (Civil Servants and Others) Pensions (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (S.R. 2022/67), regs. 1(2), 52(d)

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 165 in operation at 1.4.2015, see reg. 1(3)

(1)

Section 13 was amended by the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions, etc.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/671) Art.3(1), Sch.1 para.42, the Civil Partnership (Contracted-out Occupational and Appropriate Personal Pension Schemes) (Surviving Civil Partners) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005 (S.I. 2005/433) Sch.1 para.5, the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) (2000 c.4) sections.52, 67, Sch. 5 Pt. 1 para.1 and Sch.3 Pt.3(4), the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/255) Art.261(2) and the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 (c.1.(N.I.))

(2)

1989 c.6; see section 16(2) for the meaning of “Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1989”