Court of Chancery Act 1852
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
(15 & 16 Vict.) C A P. LXXXVII.
[1st July 1852]
'WHEREAS several of the Officers of the Court of Chancery have from Time to Time received and do now receive for their own Use various Fees and Emoluments for Business done and transacted by them in or by virtue of their respective Offices: And whereas it is expedient that such Officers should not henceforth retain such Fees and Emoluments for their own Use, but that they should receive adequate Salaries for the Performance of their respective Duties: And whereas it is expedient that for the Relief of the Suitors of the said Court further Provision should be made with respect to the Fees now payable by them, and that increased Facilities should be afforded for the Despatch of the Business of the said Court, and that certain Offices connected with the said Court should be abolished:' Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
I No Officer hereafter to receive Fees for his own Use, but all Officers to be paid by Salary.
I. From and after the Twenty-eighth Day of October One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two no Officer of the Court of Chancery or of any of the Judges thereof shall be entitled to receive and retain for his own Use any Fee or Reward whatsoever, and all Officers of the Court of Chancery and of the Judges thereof now entitled to receive and retain any Fees or other Payments for their own Use, which by virtue of this Act they will cease so to receive after the Twenty-eighth Day ofOctober One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, and whose Salaries are not fixed by this Act, shall, while they continue to hold their respective Offices, receive in lieu of all Fees or other Payments whatsoever now received by or paid or payable to them for their own Use such Salary as, having regard to the Emoluments heretofore received by them, and to the Nature and Tenure of such Offices, the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury shall think just, and upon the present Holders of such Offices respectively ceasing to hold the same the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury shall fix the Salaries to be thereafter received in respect thereof with reference to the Nature and Duties of such Offices respectively.
II Officers to continue to receive Fees until Lord Chancellor shall otherwise direct, and pay them into the Suitors Fee Fund.
II. It shall be lawful for all Officers of the Court of Chancery and of the Judges thereof heretofore entitled to receive any Fees or Emoluments for their own Use, and for their Successors in their respective Offices, and their several and respective Clerks or Agents, to continue to receive and take all and every the Fees and Emoluments which have been accustomed to be paid to them, until the Lord Chancellor shall by any Order or Orders otherwise direct, and all such Fees and Emoluments as shall accrue and be received by such Officers respectively, from and after the Twenty-eighth Day ofOctober One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, shall be accounted for and paid by them respectively once in every Month into the Bank of England , in the Name of the Accountant General of the Court of Chancery, to be placed to the Account there, intituled ‘The Suitors Fee Fund Account,’ the Amount so received and paid by such Officers respectively to be verified by the Affidavit of the accounting Party.
III Officers not to take Gratuities.
III. From and after the Twenty-eighth Day ofOctober One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, if any Officer of the Court of Chancery or of any of the Judges thereof shall, for anything done or pretended to be done relating to his Office, Situation, or Employment, or under colour of doing anything relating to his Office, Situation, or Employment, wilfully take, demand, receive, or accept, or appoint or allow any Person whatsoever to take for him or on his Account, or for or on account of any Person by him named, any Fee, Gift, Gratuity, or Emolument, or anything of Value, other than his Salary and what is allowed or directed to be taken by him under this Act or any Order to be made under this Act, the Person so offending, when duly convicted, shall forfeit and pay the Sum of Five hundred Pounds, and shall be removed from any Office, Situation, or Employment he may hold in the said Court, and shall be rendered and he is hereby rendered incapable for ever thereafter of holding any Office, Situation, or Employment in the said Court, or otherwise serving Her Majesty, Her Heirs or Successors.
IV How Offenders to be prosecuted.
IV. Any such Offender may be prosecuted either by Information at the Suit of Her Majesty's Attorney General, or by Criminal Information before Her Majesty's Court of Queen's Bench, or by Indictment.
V Allowances for copying to cease, and Power to Lord Chancellor to make Regulations as to Copies.
V. From and after the Twenty-eighth Day ofOctober One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two the several Allowances for copying provided for and directed to be paid to the Clerk of Reports, the Clerks of Entries, the Assistant Clerk of Affidavits, the Clerks of the Examiners, and the Copying or Writing Clerks of the Masters in Ordinary of the said Court, by any Act or Acts of Parliament now in force, shall cease; and it shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor, by any Order or Orders to be from Time to Time made by him, to make such Regulations as to the making and delivering Copies of the Pleadings and other Proceedings in the said Court, and of the Documents relating thereto, and the Manner in which such Copies should be paid for, and the Amount of Charge for the same, and by whom the Amount to be so charged should be received, as may from Time to Time seem expedient.
VI Lord Chancellor may vary, &c. Fees, and provide for their Collection by Stamps.
VI. It shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor, by any Order or Orders to be from Time to Time made by him, to vary, reduce, or abolish all or any of the Fees payable in relation to Proceedings in the Court of Chancery, and to substitute One or more Fee or Fees in lieu thereof, and to direct that all or any of such Fees shall, from a Day to be named in such Order or Orders and thenceforth, be collected by means of Stamps to be provided and used in manner herein-after mentioned.
VII After such Order, Fees not to be received in Money, but by means of Stamps.
VII. From and after the Day named in such Order or Orders, unless and until the Lord Chancellor shall otherwise direct, none of the Fees mentioned in such Orders respectively shall be received in Money, but by a Stamp denoting the Amount of the Fee which otherwise would be payable; and where any Fee shall be payable in respect of any Document such Stamp shall, at the Expense of the Party liable to pay the Fee, and in such Manner and under such Regulations as shall by any Order or Orders be directed, be stamped or affixed on the Vellum, Parchment, or Paper on which the Proceeding in respect whereof such Fee is payable is written, printed, or ingrossed, or which may be otherwise used in reference to such Proceeding.
VIII Commissioners of Inland Revenue to give the necessary Directions as to the Stamps, to keep separate Accounts, and pay Monies into Suitors Fee Fund.
VIII. The Commissioners of Inland Revenue shall from Time to Time, upon the Receipt of any Order of the Lord Chancellor in that Behalf, give the necessary Directions for carrying the same into effect, and shall provide everything that is requisite for that Purpose, and shall do or cause to be done everything that is necessary for the Receipt and Collection of the Money to be paid for such Stamps; and the said Commissioners shall cause separate and distinct Accounts to be kept of all Sums of Money received or collected by them under the Provisions of any such Order or Orders, and of all Costs, Charges, and Expenses incurred by them or by their Direction in carrying the same into effect, and it shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to pay and to deduct and retain out of such Monies all such Costs, Charges, and Expenses, and also to deduct all Sums of Money repaid on Allowances for spoiled Stamps, as herein-after provided for; and after such Deduction they shall from Time to Time, and in such Manner as the Lord Chancellor shall by any Order direct, pay the Monies so to be received and collected into the Bank ofEngland , to the Credit of the Accountant General of the Court of Chancery, to be placed to the Account there, intituled ‘The Suitors Fee Fund Account.’
IX Provision for Sale of Stamps.
IX. It shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor to direct any of the Officers of the Court of Chancery whose Duties may be diminished in consequence of the Substitution of Stamps for Money Payments, or otherwise, under this Act, to act under the Directions of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue in the Sale and Distribution of all or any of the Stamps to be used under this Act: Provided always, that in...
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