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STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS


2005 No. 336

ECCLESIASTICAL LAW, ENGLAND

FEES

The Legal Officers (Annual Fees) Order 2005

  Made (Approved by the General Synod) 15th February 2005 
  Laid before Parliament 18th February 2005 
  Coming into force 1st January 2005 

We, the Fees Advisory Commission constituted in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of the Ecclesiastical Fees Measure 1986[1], in exercise of the powers conferred by section 5 do hereby order as follows:

Establishment of fees
     1. The Fees appearing in Schedule 1 to this Order are established. The Tables of that Schedule contain particulars of the Annual Fees which are to be received, after the commencement of this Order, by the legal officers named in Table I of that Schedule in respect of the carrying out by them of the duties of their offices specified in Schedule 2 to this Order and by the legal officers named in Table II of Schedule 1 in respect of the carrying out by them of the duties of their offices.

Payment of fees
    
2. The Fees established and set out in the second column of Table I of Schedule 1 to this Order are to be paid by the diocesan board of finance. The Fees established and set out in the third column of the said Table I and in Table II of that Schedule are the liability of the diocesan bishop or archbishop, subject to the provisions of section 8 of the Ecclesiastical Fees Measure 1986.

Revocation of 2003 Order
    
3. The Legal Officers (Annual Fees) Order 2003[2] is hereby revoked.

Duties of the diocesan registrar
     4. The diocesan registrar shall perform the duties and provide the professional services specified in Schedule 2 to this Order in consideration of the annual fee set out in Table I of Schedule 1 to this Order for his or her diocese and shall not be entitled to receive any other remuneration for such duties or services save as provided by this Order.

Supplementary annual fee
    
5.  - (1) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph nothing in this Order shall preclude a diocesan board of finance from agreeing to pay an additional fee to a diocesan registrar by way of annual fee or retainer (hereinafter called a "supplementary annual fee") which is in addition to the annual fee payable under Table I of Schedule 1 to this Order.

    (2) An agreement made under sub-paragraph (1) above shall be expressed to be an agreement for a payment by way of supplementary annual fee.

    (3) An agreement made under sub-paragraph (1) above shall be in writing. The period for which the agreement is to run shall be stated in the agreement. In the absence of any such statement the agreement shall remain binding until determined by not less that three months' notice on either side.

    (4) The body responsible for paying a supplementary annual fee shall be the diocesan board of finance.

Travel, subsistence and accommodation
    
6. A fee specified in Schedule 1 to this Order shall be increased by a sum for reasonable expenses of travel, subsistence and accommodation.

Value Added Tax
    
7. Where Value Added Tax is chargeable in respect of the provision of any service for which a fee is prescribed in this Order (including any fee specified in paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 to this Order) there shall be payable in addition to that fee the amount of Value Added Tax.

Citation and commencement
    
8.  - (1) This Order may be cited as the Legal Officers (Annual Fees) Order 2005.

    (2) This Order shall have effect from the first day of January 2005.


J Laws

G F Tattersall

H M Morgan

M A Chamberlain

A Whittam Smith

T E Allen

David Williams
Clerk to the Synod


Approved by the General Synod the fifteenth day of February 2005






SCHEDULE 1

FEES ESTABLISHED BY THIS ORDER




TABLE I

ANNUAL FEES PAYABLE TO DIOCESAN REGISTRARS (SUBSTITUTED FOR TABLE I OF THE SCHEDULE TO THE LEGAL OFFICERS (ANNUAL FEES) ORDER 2003)

Diocese Payable by Diocesan Board of Finance Liability of the Diocesan Bishop Total
     £ £ £
Bath and Wells 29,725 17,455 47,180
Birmingham 18,395 14,429 32,824
Blackburn 19,234 17,081 36,315
Bradford 13,526 17,844 31,370
Bristol 18,063 14,156 32,219
Canterbury 20,447 16,066 36,513
Carlisle 21,527 14,877 36,404
Chelmsford 32,739 19,134 51,873
Chester 23,785 16,136 39,921
Chichester 26,900 19,749 46,649
Coventry 16,770 16,638 33,408
Derby 20,055 16,425 36,480
Durham 19,999 17,467 37,466
Ely 21,379 16,689 38,068
Exeter 31,021 18,131 49,152
Gloucester 22,515 16,049 38,564
Guildford 16,162 16,940 33,102
Hereford 21,904 16,543 38,447
Leicester 20,768 14,442 35,210
Lichfield 29,531 18,725 48,256
Lincoln 34,232 13,888 48,120
Liverpool 19,284 17,066 36,350
London 31,556 20,491 52,047
Manchester 21,899 19,447 41,346
Newcastle 19,031 13,663 32,694
Norwich 35,452 14,631 50,083
Oxford 43,638 14,260 57,898
Peterborough 21,940 18,254 40,194
Portsmouth 12,322 17,938 30,260
Ripon and Leeds 16,966 14,589 31,555
Rochester 20,097 16,326 36,423
St Albans 24,490 17,928 42,418
St Edmundsbury and Ipswich 26,794 17,342 44,136
Salisbury 29,579 16,767 46,346
Sheffield 18,010 15,540 33,550
Southwark 23,560 20,794 44,354
Southwell 19,806 16,769 36,575
Truro 19,759 14,561 34,320
Wakefield 17,382 16,459 33,841
Winchester 22,850 17,658 40,508
Worcester 17,148 15,913 33,061
York 29,379 18,125 47,504



TABLE II

FEES PAYABLE TO THE PROVINCIAL REGISTRARS (SUBSTITUTED FOR TABLE II OF THE SCHEDULE TO THE LEGAL OFFICERS (ANNUAL FEES) ORDER 2003)

          Fee
          £
1. Annual fee for Joint Registrars of the Province of Canterbury 98,625
2. Annual fee for Registrar of the Province of York 38,160



SCHEDULE 2

THE SCOPE OF THE ANNUAL FEE


Professional services to be provided by the diocesan registrar
     1. Subject to the restrictions contained in paragraphs 2 and 3 hereof, the professional services provided by the diocesan registrar in respect of the annual fee paid to him or her under this Order shall include  - 

    (1) Giving of advice to the Diocesan Bishop, Suffragan Bishops, Archdeacons, Chairmen of the Houses of the Diocesan Synod, Rural Deans and Lay Chairmen of Deanery Synods, Incumbents and all other clergymen, beneficed or licensed in the diocese, on any legal matter properly arising in connection with the discharge of their respective ecclesiastical or synodical offices, and giving of advice to chairmen and secretaries of diocesan boards, councils and committees on any legal matter properly arising in connection with the business of the respective boards, councils and committees;

    (2) Acting as Registrar to the Diocesan Synod and attendance at its meetings;

    (3) Attendance at the Bishop's Council and Standing Committee if required by that Committee;

    (4) Occasional attendance at meetings of diocesan boards, councils and committees for the purpose of giving advice on specific matters;

    (5) Maintaining of all such records of the diocese as are customarily kept by the diocesan registrar including the making of entries therein, and the making of searches and reports on matters recorded in the Registry or in documents held in the diocesan muniment room at the request of persons or bodies referred to in sub-paragraphs (1) and (6) hereof;

    (6) Giving of advice to churchwardens and secretaries of PCCs on any legal matter properly arising in connection with their duties or official business;

    (7) Giving of advice to any person concerned in or with the administration of an election under the Church Representation Rules on any question properly arising under those Rules;

    (8) Giving of advice to a bona fide enquirer concerning the law of marriage, baptism, confirmation and burial of the dead according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England;

    (9) Giving of advice to persons considering or proposing to make an application for a legal aid certificate for financial assistance from the ecclesiastical legal aid fund maintained under section 1 of the Church of England (Legal Aid) Measure 1994;

    (10) Acting as Registrar to the Consistory Court of the diocese except in so far as a separate fee is prescribed by Order made under the Ecclesiastical Fees Measure 1986 or except in so far as this Order provides that a fee calculated in accordance with the Solicitors' (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 1994 is payable;

    (11) Attendance at episcopal visitations (other than visitations by the Diocesan Bishop of the Cathedral Church of the diocese);

    (12) Drafting and preparing, approving, engrossing and registering all notices, licences, consents, permissions, instruments and other documents required by law or customarily used in connection with the following matters  - 

    (13) Acting in relation to the following matters on the instructions of the Diocesan Bishop, Suffragan Bishops, Archdeacons or on the instructions of a diocesan board or council whose business properly includes such matters - 

    (14) Work in connection with the following matters - 

Restrictions on the provisions of paragraph 1
     2. The provisions of paragraph 1 hereof shall be restricted as follows - 

    (1) Where the Registrar receives a request for advice on any matter properly falling within paragraph 1 sub-paragraphs (1), (5), (6), (7) and (8) - 

    (2) The Registrar shall not be required to attend meetings of diocesan boards, councils and committees except upon an occasional basis to give legal advice on specific matters. (The Registrar may attend such meetings regularly to give general advice and assistance if requested to do so by the board, council or committee in question and in that case he or she shall be entitled to be separately remunerated for this work.)

Advice or assistance given to the Diocesan Bishop, Suffragan Bishops or Archdeacons
     3. The provisions of paragraph 2(1) hereof shall not apply to advice and assistance given as legal secretary or diocesan registrar to the Diocesan Bishop, or as diocesan registrar to Suffragan Bishops or Archdeacons.

Work not falling within the scope of the annual fee
     4. For the avoidance of doubt work in connection with the following matters shall not fall within the scope of the annual fee but a fee calculated in accordance with the Solicitors' (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 1994 shall be payable - 

    (1) Conveyancing and drafting of documents other than those referred to in paragraph 1 sub-paragraphs (12) and (13) hereof;

    (2) Matters relating to individual diocesan, parochial or educational trusts or to individual pieces of diocesan glebe property;

    (3) Litigation;

    (4) Acting as secretary to the Vacancy in See Committee constituted under The Vacancy in See Committees Regulation 1993 (as amended) on a vacancy in the see of the Diocesan Bishopric;

    (5) Deposition or deprivation consequent upon proceedings in secular courts, including the following - 

    (6) Advice or other work in connection with proceedings against a clerk in Holy Orders under the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963 in respect of an ecclesiastical offence which have been instituted under that Measure or are under consideration or in connection with an allegation of such an offence which is under investigation with the knowledge and approval of the bishop (excluding advice and other work for which a fee is payable under the Ecclesiastical Judges, Legal Officers and Others (Fees) Order for the time being in force made under section 6 of the Ecclesiastical Fees Measure 1986). (The fee is payable by the bishop.)

    (7) Advice or other work in connection with the revocation by reason of misconduct of a licence granted by the bishop to a Clerk in Holy Orders, deaconess or lay worker or reader to minister in the diocese, or in connection with a revocation of such a licence which is under consideration or with an allegation of misconduct by such a person which might lead to such a revocation and which is under investigation with the knowledge and approval of the bishop. (The fee is payable by the bishop.)

    (8) Advice to the diocesan bishop or other work carried out at his request in connection with proceedings or possible future proceedings under the Incumbents (Vacation of Benefices) Measures 1977 and 1993 in a case where notice has been given to the bishop under section 1A(1A) of the Incumbents (Vacation of Benefices) Measure 1977 or the giving of such notice is under consideration. (The fee is payable by the bishop.)

    (9) Pronouncing of censure under section 31 of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963 with the consent of the accused (the fee is payable by the bishop);

    (10) Work undertaken on behalf of a person who is not an official in the diocese or on behalf of a body which is not a diocesan board or council in connection with the following matters - 

    (11) Removal of the legal effects of consecration under section 22 of the Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1991;

    (12) Work carried out in relation to the register of patrons under Part I of the Patronage (Benefices) Measure 1986 where a fee calculated in accordance with the Solicitors' (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 1994 is payable under the Ecclesiastical Judges, Legal Officers and Others (Fees) Order for the time being in force made under section 6 of the Ecclesiastical Fees Measure 1986;

    (13) Acting as Chapter Clerk (whether or not the Diocesan Registrar holds the office of Chapter Clerk) and in particular doing the following work, namely work in connection with the following matters - 

    (14) Attendance at and work in connection with any visitation by the Diocesan Bishop of the Cathedral Church of the Diocese and in connection with any action taken or proposed to be taken by the Diocesan Bishop under the Care of Cathedrals (Supplementary Provisions) Measure 1994.

Disbursements
     5. If any disbursements other than expenses specified in paragraph 6 of this Order are incurred in the course of providing any of the professional services in paragraph 1 above the diocesan registrar shall be entitled to charge for them separately.



EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)


This Order applies an increase of 3.2% (a weighted inflationary formula of 25% RPI and 75% AEI (2.9% and 3.3% respectively in 2003) to the total of annual fees for diocesan registrars fixed by the Legal Officers (Annual Fees) Order 2003. The increased total is then apportioned as to each registrar's individual fee according to a formula based on the number of parishes and stipendiary clergy in each diocese.

The Order also fixes new annual fees for the provincial registrars.

The Order will be backdated to have effect from 1st January 2005.


Notes:

[1] 1986 No. 2; amended by the Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1991 (1991 No. 1), Schedule 6, the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 1995 (1995 No. 2), section 14, the Care of Places of Worship Measure 1999 (1999 No. 2), Schedule 2 and the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 2000 (2000 No. 1), section 16.back

[2] S.I. 2003/1936.back



ISBN 0 11 072263 9


  © Crown copyright 2005

Prepared 18 February 2005


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URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/legis/num_reg/2005/20050336.html