Citation and commencement

1.  This order may be cited as the Justice of the Peace Court Fees (Scotland) Order 2024 and comes into force on 1 November 2024.

Fees payable in justice of the peace courts

2.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3) and articles 3 and 4, 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 the schedule (table of fees payable from 1 November 2024) 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: legal aid

3.—(1) A fee specified by this Order is not payable by a person if—

(a) the person is in receipt of civil legal aid within the meaning of section 13(2) of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986( 2) in respect of the matter in the Table of Fees in the schedule in connection with which the fee is payable,

(b) 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, or

(c) the person’s solicitor is undertaking work in relation to the matter in the Table of Fees in the schedule in connection with which the fee is payable on the basis of any regulations made under section 36(1) of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 providing for legal aid in a matter of special urgency.

(2) This article does not apply to the fees payable in respect of matter 5 in the Table of Fees in the schedule (petition for removal of disqualification from driving).

Exemption of certain persons from fees: social security

4.—(1) A fee specified 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( 3),

(b) the person is in receipt of an income-based jobseeker’s allowance under the Jobseekers Act 1995( 4),

(c) the person or the person’s partner is in receipt of guarantee credit under the State Pension Credit Act 2002( 5),

(d) the person or the person’s partner (“the party”) 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( 6)) 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 calculations of the working tax credit is £20,592 or less,

(e) the person or the person’s partner is in receipt of income-related employment and support allowance under the Welfare Reform Act 2007( 7),

(f) the person is in receipt of universal credit under Part 1 of the 2012 Act( 8),

(g) the person is in receipt of either—

(i) personal independence payment under Part 4 of the 2012 Act, or

(ii) adult disability payment within the meaning given in regulation 2 of the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022( 9),

provided that the person’s gross annual income is £20,592 or less, or

(h) the person or the person’s partner has, within the period of 3 months prior to the date the specified fee would be payable but for this exemption, received financial or other assistance under the Welfare Funds (Scotland) Act 2015( 10).

(2) This article does not apply to the fees payable in respect of matter 5 in the Table of Fees in the schedule (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 in a civil partnership,

“ the 2012 Act” means the Welfare Reform Act 2012( 11).

Revocation

5.  The Justice of the Peace Court Fees (Scotland) Order 2022( 12) is revoked.

Article 2(1)

SCHEDULE TABLE OF FEES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order makes provision for the fees payable from 1 November 2024 in justice of the peace courts in Scotland, to the clerk of the justice of the peace court.

Article 2 and the schedule specify fee levels payable in a justice of the peace court in respect of certain matters, given effect by the Table of Fees in the schedule.

Article 2(3) provides that fees 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.

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.

Articles 3 and 4 exempt certain persons from payment of fees.

Article 5 revokes the Justice of the Peace Court Fees (Scotland) Order 2022.

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