The Judicial Pensions (Transfer Between Judicial Pension Schemes) Regulations 1995

Made: 7th March 1995

Laid before Parliament: 9th March 1995

Coming into force: 31st March 1995

The Lord Chancellor, and, in relation to judicial offices whose jurisdiction is exercised exclusively in Scotland, the Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 12 and 29 of the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993[^f00001] and with the concurrence of the Treasury, hereby make the following Regulations—

Title and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Judicial Pensions (Transfer Between Judicial Pension Schemes) Regulations 1995 and shall come into force on 31st March 1995.

2

In these Regulations—

• “former scheme” means any relevant scheme of the member (except a voluntary contributions scheme) prior to his transfer to the Part I scheme other than the last existing scheme;

• “last existing scheme” means: the relevant scheme of the member immediately prior to his transfer to the Part I scheme; where a member was a member of a relevant scheme prior to appointment as Lord Chancellor and is subsequently re-appointed to qualifying judicial office, the relevant scheme at the date he last held qualifying judicial office; or where Part I of the 1993 Act applies to a member by virtue of section 1(c) of that Act, the relevant scheme of the member at the date he last held qualifying judicial office;

• “member” means a member of a relevant scheme to whom section 12 of the 1993 Act applies;

• “Part I scheme” means the scheme constituted under Part I of the 1993 Act;

• “relevant scheme” means any judicial pension scheme constituted otherwise than by or under the 1993 Act;

• “the 1993 Act” means the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993;

• “voluntary contributions scheme” means a judicial pension scheme providing for the purchase of benefits additional to those provided by or under the Part I scheme or a relevant scheme by means of additional voluntary contributions;

• “15 year scheme”, “20 year scheme”, “30 year scheme” and “40 year scheme” means a scheme in respect of which service in qualifying judicial office for 15, 20, 30 or 40 years, as the case may be, is a condition of eligibility for an annual pension at the rate of one half of the last annual salary payable in respect of that office.

Purpose and effect

3

• (1) These regulations shall apply for the purposes of valuing a member’s relevant rights which are to be transferred to the Part I scheme under section 12 of the 1993 Act.

• (2) The sum of a member’s relevant rights in his last existing scheme and his relevant rights in any former scheme shall form the total amount to be transferred into the Part I scheme.

• (3) The total amount to be transferred into the Part I scheme shall be expressed as a period of notional service in the office held by the member at the date of transfer in accordance with regulations 5, 6 and 7.

Service multiplier

4

For the purposes of regulations 5(1)(b) and 6(1)(b), the service multiplier appropriate to the member in respect of the last existing scheme or any former scheme shall be—

• (a) in relation to a 15 year scheme: 1.25;

• (b) in relation to a 20 year scheme: 1;

• (c) in relation to a 30 year scheme: 0.67;

• (d) in relation to a 40 year scheme: 0.5.

Valuation of relevant rights: last existing scheme

5

• (1) The value of a member’s relevant rights to be transferred from his last existing scheme to the Part I scheme shall be calculated in accordance with the formula A × B where—

• (a) A is the member’s length of service in qualifying judicial offices that were subject to his last existing scheme (expressed in years and days) excluding any period during which an election referred to in section 13(8) of the 1993 Act is in force; and

• (b) B is the service multiplier appropriate to the member in respect of his last existing scheme.

• (2) For the purpose of the calculation—

• (a) the number of days in A shall be expressed in decimal form to four decimal places by dividing them by 365; and

• (b) the decimal part of the product A × B shall be converted back into days by multiplying it by 365.

• (3) The transfer value arrived at by applying the formula shall be rounded up to the next full day.

• (4) Where a member holds two qualifying judicial offices concurrently, no day shall be counted more than once.

Valuation of relevant rights: former schemes

6

• (1) The value of a member’s relevant rights to be transferred from any former scheme into the Part I scheme shall be calculated in accordance with the formula A × B × (C/D) where—

• (a) A is the member’s length of service in qualifying judicial offices that were subject to the former scheme (expressed in years and days) excluding any period during which an election referred to in section 13(8) of the 1993 Act is in force;

• (b) B is the service multiplier appropriate to the member in respect of the former scheme;

• (c) C is the salary of the office that the member held while a member of the former scheme at the date of transfer from that former scheme to another former scheme or the last existing scheme as appropriate;

• (d) D is the salary of the office that the member held while a member of his last existing scheme at the date of transfer into the last existing scheme.

• (2) For the purposes of the calculation—

• (a) the number of days in A shall be expressed in decimal form to four decimal places by dividing them by 365; and

• (b) the decimal part of the product of A × B × (C/D) shall be converted back into days by multiplying it by 365.

• (3) Regulation 5(3) and (4) shall apply to the valuation of relevant rights in a former scheme as they apply to the valuation of relevant rights in the last existing scheme.

Voluntary contributions: valuation of benefits purchased under the Judicial Added Benefits Scheme

7

• (1) In this regulation—

• “The Judicial Added Benefits Scheme” means the scheme of that name constituted under Part IV of the Judicial Pensions (Additional Voluntary Contributions) Regulations 1995[^f00002];

• “normal pension age” means the age at which a member could retire under his last existing scheme with a pension immediately payable.

• (2) Any added units of benefit which a member has purchased under the Judicial Added Benefits Scheme shall be valued by using the formula D × (A/B × C) where—

• (a) A is the number of contributions made to the Judicial Added Benefits Scheme;

• (b) B is the number of contributions potentially payable from the commencement of contributions to the member’s normal pension age;

• (c) C is the number of added units of benefit which the member has contracted to purchase; and

• (d) D is the appropriate service credit figure, determined, subject to sub-paragraph (e), by reference to the age of the member at his last birthday at the date of transfer, set out in the relevant table in Schedule 1.

• (e) in the case of a member of the Land Tribunal scheme or District Judiciary scheme, D shall be determined by reference both to the age of the member at his last birthday at the date of transfer, and his age last birthday at the date of entry into the Land Tribunal scheme or District Judiciary scheme as appropriate, as set out in the table relating to those schemes in Schedule 1.

• (3) For the purposes of the calculation—

• (a) the product of D × (A/B × C) shall be expressed to four decimal places; and

• (b) the decimal part of the product shall be converted into days by multiplying it by 365.

• (4) The transfer value arrived at by applying the formula shall be rounded up to the next full day.

• (5) Schedule 2 shall apply for the purpose of determining the relevant table in Schedule 1 appropriate to the member.

Voluntary contributions: treatment of added years purchased

8

Any added years which a member may have purchased while belonging to a relevant scheme shall be treated, for the purposes of regulation 5, as if they had been actual years served under his last existing scheme.

Voluntary contributions: relevant rights in voluntary contributions schemes

9

• (1) Any relevant rights that a member may have in a voluntary contributions scheme that is open to members both of the member’s last existing scheme and members of the Part I scheme shall either—

• (a) remain within that voluntary contributions scheme; or

• (b) be transferred into the Part I scheme in accordance with the Judicial Pensions (Transfer of Accrued Benefits) Regulations 1995[^f00003];

as the member wishes.

• (2) Any relevant rights that a member may have in any other voluntary contributions scheme (except the Judicial Added Benefits Scheme as defined in regulation 7) shall either—

• (a) be transferred into the Judicial Additional Voluntary Contributions Scheme constituted by Part II of the Judicial Pensions (Additional Voluntary Contributions) Regulations 1995[^f00004] provided that the scheme falls within regulation 2.22 of those Regulations; or

• (b) be transferred into the Part I scheme in accordance with the Judicial Pensions (Transfer of Accrued Benefits) Regulations 1995;

as the member wishes.

• (3) Where paragraphs (1) or (2) apply, the member shall notify the administrators in writing of his wishes before the date of transfer into the Part I scheme.

Effect of transferred rights

10

Any service credited to a member by virtue of section 12 of the 1993 Act and these Regulations shall be treated for all purposes in the same way as actual service by the member after the relevant day.

SCHEDULE 1

SCHEDULE 2 — EXISTING JUDICIAL SCHEME JUDICIAL OFFICES INCLUDED IN EACH ARRANGEMENT

Higher Judiciary Scheme

• Lord of Appeal in Ordinary

• Lord Chief Justice of England

• Master of the Rolls

• Lord President of the Court of Session

• Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland

• Lord Justice Clerk

• Lord Justice of Appeal (in England and Wales or Northern Ireland)

• President of the Family Division

• Vice-Chancellor

• High Court Judge (in England and Wales or Northern Ireland)

• Judge of the Court of Session

• President or Vice-President of the Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal, appointed under section 3 of the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1989[^f00005]

• Chairman of Industrial Tribunals or of the Fair Employment Tribunal, appointed in pursuance of regulations under Article 30 of the Industrial Training (Northern Ireland) Order 1984[^f00006] or appointed under section 3(1)(c) of the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1989

• Chairman of the Scottish Land Court

• President of the Industrial Court appointed in pursuance of Article 91 of the Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1992[^f00007]

• Recorder of London

• Common Serjeant

Sheriff Principal Scheme

Circuit Judiciary Scheme

District Judiciary Scheme

Land Tribunal Scheme

Stipendiary Magistrate Scheme

(*) Except for office-holders pensionable under the PCSPS, who are not eligible to join the judicial AVC schemes.

Signed

Mackay of Clashfern, C. — Dated 6th March 1995

Ian Lang — One of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State — Dated 7th March 1995

We concur

Andrew Mitchell — Timothy Wood — Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury — Dated 7th March 1995

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations apply to the transfer of benefits between existing judicial pension schemes and the pension scheme constituted by Part I of the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993. They provide for the valuation of the benefits to be transferred including those arising out of voluntary contributions.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1993 c. 8; by virtue of section 12(4) the power to make these regulations is vested in “the appropriate Minister” which expression is defined in section 30(1) as (a) in relation to any judicial office whose jurisdiction is exercised exclusively in Scotland, the Secretary of State, or (b) subject to (a), the Lord Chancellor.

[^f00002]: S.I. 1995/639.

[^f00003]: S.I. 1995/637.

[^f00004]: S.I. 1995/639.

[^f00005]: 1989 c. 32.

[^f00006]: S.I. 1984/1159 (N.1.9).

[^f00007]: S.I. 1982/528 (N.1.8).

[^f00008]: 1978 c. 44.

[^f00009]: 1970 c. 9.

[^f00010]: 1964 c. 21.