The Family Proceedings Fees (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2002

Made: 5th November 2002

Coming into operation in accordance with Article 1

The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 116(1) and (4) of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978[^f00001], 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 Family Proceedings Fees (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2002 and, subject to paragraph (2), shall come into operation on 2nd December 2002.

• (2) Articles 3 and 4 shall come into operation on 3rd March 2003.

2

In this Order “the principal Order” means the Family Proceedings Fees Order (Northern Ireland) 1996[^f00002].

Interpretation of the principal Order

3

Article 2 of the principal Order shall be amended as follows –

• (a) the word “and” shall be deleted from the end of paragraph (b); and

• (b) after paragraph (c) there shall be added the following new paragraphs –

(d) “credit card” means a card which – (i) may be used on its own to pay for goods or services or to withdraw cash, and (ii) enables the holder to make purchases and to draw cash up to a prearranged limit; (e) “debit card” means a card which may be used as a means of payment under arrangements which do not provide for the extension of credit to the cardholder, but provide for amounts paid by means of the card to be debited to a specified account in his name (or in his name jointly with one or more others); and (f) “payment instrument” means a cheque or payable order.

Manner in which fees are to be taken

4

For paragraph (1) of Article 5 of the principal Order there shall be substituted the following new paragraph –

(1) Subject to Article 7 of this Order, the fees prescribed in the Schedule shall be taken – (a) in cash; or (b) by credit card payment; or (c) by debit card payment; or (d) by payment instrument.

Fees to be taken in family proceedings

5

For the Schedule to the principal Order there shall be substituted the new Schedule set out in the Schedule to this Order.

SCHEDULE

Signed

Irvine of Lairg, C. — Dated 29th October 2002

We concur,

Jim Fitzpatrick — John Heppell — Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury — Dated 5th November 2002

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order.)

This Order amends the Family Proceedings Fees Order (Northern Ireland) 1996 so as –

• (a) to increase a number of the fees to be taken in family proceedings in the High Court and county courts; and

• (b) allow fees to be taken by a range of payment methods, including credit or debit card.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1978 c. 23

[^f00002]: S.R. 1996 No. 495 to which the most recent relevant amendments were effected by S.R. 1998 No. 408