Domestic violence victims helped as injunction fees are scrapped
2 Apr 2014 11:35 AM
Vulnerable domestic abuse victims will be helped
by the scrapping of fees for domestic violence injunctions, Courts Minister
Shailesh Vara has announced.
The
£75 fee for domestic violence injunctions will cease from 22 April, as
part of an overhaul of the fees charged in civil and family courts in England
and Wales.
The
changes will also mean hardworking taxpayers will no longer have to cover so
much of the bill for operating the courts. At present around £100m of
running costs have to be found from general taxes each year.
Under the plans confirmed yesterday, the fees for civil
courts (not criminal courts) will be adjusted to address the
shortfall.
The
changes include:
- Scrapping the £75 application fee for domestic
violence injunctions which will help thousands of women seeking non-molestation
and occupation orders. More than 20,000 applications were made in
2012.
- Increasing the fees for cases involving claims for money
(for example when someone makes a claim for compensation) on a sliding scale,
with a maximum fee of £1, 920 .
- Introducing a standard fee of £280 for civil cases
which are not about claims for money (applying for someone to be declared
insolvent or to repossess property for example) - instead of the current
mixture of fees.
Fees will stay the same for cases involving sensitive
family issues including child contact, divorce financial disputes and adoption
applications – and there will be a reduction in the fee for local
authorities to apply to take a child into care.
Courts Minister Shailesh Vara said:
We
have one of the best legal systems in the world and we are making sure our
courts are properly resourced so that they can continue to build on their
excellent reputation. These fee changes will make sure hardworking taxpayers
are not having to subsidise those using our civil courts.
I
want to emphasise that we will protect vulnerable groups by keeping fees the
same for sensitive family issues including adoption applications and child
contact. Moreover, we are scrapping the fee for domestic violence injunctions
to make sure there are no unnecessary barriers between people and the help they
need.
And
people who cannot afford court fees do not have to pay – they can apply
for waivers using the means-tested remissions system.
The
changes follow a consultation which also included a section on further
proposals to set fees for some civil and commercial cases as a percentage of
the amount under dispute.
The
Government is still considering the responses to that part of the consultation
and will set out next steps in due course.
Notes to Editors:
-
Details of all of the current and proposed fees are
included in the consultation document and response Court Fees: Proposals For Reform
-
The
overall running costs for civil courts in England and Wales was £610m in
2012/13.
-
The
fees will remain unchanged for adoption applications (£170), child
contact applications (£215) and divorce financial arrangements
(£255). They will be reduced for applications to take children into care
from £5,475 (application and hearing fees) to
£2,055
-
Details of the fee remissions
system
-
For
more information contact the Ministry of Justice press office on 0203 334 3536.
Follow us @MoJPress