Citation, commencement and effect

1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the Justice of the Peace Court Fees (Scotland) Order 2015 and, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), comes into force on 22nd September 2015.

(2) Article 2(1)(b) and Schedule 2 come into force, and article 2(1)(a) and Schedule 1 cease to have effect, on 1st April 2016.

(3) Article 2(1)(c) and Schedule 3 come into force, and article 2(1)(b) and Schedule 2 cease to have effect, on 1st April 2017.

Fees payable in justice of the peace courts

2.-(1) Subject to paragraph (3) and article 3-

(a)the fees payable in a justice of the peace court in respect of the matters specified in column 1 of the Table of Fees in Schedule 1 (table of fees payable from 22nd September 2015) are the fees specified in relation to those matters in column 2 of that Table;

(b)the fees payable in a justice of the peace court in respect of the matters specified in column 1 of the Table of Fees in Schedule 2 (table of fees payable from 1st April 2016) are the fees specified in relation to those matters in column 2 of that Table; and

(c)the fees payable in a justice of the peace court in respect of the matters specified in column 1 of the Table of Fees in Schedule 3 (table of fees payable from 1st April 2017) are the fees specified in relation to those matters in column 2 of that Table.

(2) The fees payable under this Order are to be paid to the clerk of the justice of the peace court.

(3) The fees provided for by this Order are not payable by the Crown in the enforcement of the criminal law or in the exercise of powers or the performance of duties arising out of or relating to that enforcement.

(4) No act is required of the clerk of the justice of the peace court in connection with a matter specified in relation to any fee prior to-

(a)the payment of that fee; or

(b)an arrangement being entered into for payment of that fee.

Exemption of certain persons from fees

3.-(1) A fee provided for by this Order is not payable by a person if-

(a)the person or the person's partner is in receipt of income support under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(2);

(b)the person is in receipt of an income-based jobseeker's allowance under the Jobseekers Act 1995(3);

(c)the person is in receipt of universal credit under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012(4);

(d)the person is in receipt of civil legal aid within the meaning of section 13(2) of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986(5) in respect of the matter in the Table of Fees in Schedule 1, 2 or 3 in connection with which the fee is payable;

(e)the fee is payable in connection with a simplified divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership application and the person is in receipt of advice and assistance from a solicitor under the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 in respect of that application;

(f)the person's solicitor is undertaking work in relation to the matter in the Table of Fees in Schedule 1, 2 or 3 in connection with which the fee is payable on the basis of any regulations made under section 36 of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 providing for legal aid in a matter of special urgency;

(g)the person or the person's partner is in receipt of guarantee credit under the State Pension Credit Act 2002(6);

(h)the person or the person's partner is in receipt of 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 couple (as defined in section 3(5A) 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 £16,642 or less; or

(i)the person or the person's partner is in receipt of income-related employment and support allowance under the Welfare Reform Act 2007(8).

(2) This article does not apply to the fees payable for matter 4 in the Table of Fees in Schedule 1, 2 or 3 (petition for removal of disqualification from driving).

(3) In this article "partner" means a person to whom a person is married or with whom the person is registered as a civil partner in terms of sections 1(1), 85(1) or 137(1) of the Civil Partnership Act 2004(9).

Revocations

4.  The Justice of the Peace Court Fees (Scotland) Order 2012(10) and regulation 22 of the Welfare Reform (Consequential Amendments) (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2013(11) are revoked.

Article 2(1)(a)

SCHEDULE 1TABLE OF FEES

Article 2(1)(b)

SCHEDULE 2TABLE OF FEES

Article 2(1)(c)

SCHEDULE 3TABLE OF FEES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order makes provision for the fees payable in justice of the peace courts in Scotland, to the clerk of the justice of the peace court.

Article 2 and Schedules 1 to 3 specify fee levels payable in a justice of the peace court in respect of certain matters.

• The fee levels for the period from 22nd September 2015 until 31st March 2016 are given effect by the Table of Fees in Schedule 1.

• The fee levels for the period from 1st April 2016 until 31st March 2017 are given effect by substituting the Table of Fees in Schedule 1 with the Table of Fees in Schedule 2.

• The fee levels from 1st April 2017 onwards are given effect by substituting the Table of Fees in Schedule 2 with the Table of Fees in Schedule 3.

Article 2(3) provides that fees are not to be payable by the Crown in the enforcement of the criminal law or in the exercise of powers or the performance of duties arising out of or relating to that enforcement.

Article 2(4) provides that the clerk of a justice of the peace court is not required to do any act in connection with the matter specified in relation to that fee without either prior payment of the fee or entering into an arrangement for payment of the fee.

Article 3 exempts certain persons from payment of fees.

Article 4 revokes the Justice of the Peace Court Fees (Scotland) Order 2012 and regulation 22 of the Welfare Reform (Consequential Amendments) (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2013 (which amended the 2012 Order).

A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared for this Order and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies can be obtained from the Scottish Government Justice Directorate, St Andrews House, Edinburgh EH1 3DG.