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Guide to Court Fees

Fees payable

There are various fees payable for submitting applications to the court and for lodging documents at different stages of the court procedure. The fees are set out in Scottish Statutory Instruments (referred to as a Fee Orders). These are regularly updated by Fee Amendment Orders.

 

Fee exemption

The above Fee Orders also make a number of statutory provisions for exemptions from paying certain court fees. Exemption from payment of these fees can only be applied if you meet the criteria set out in the relevant Fee Order – a summary of those circumstances is set out below.

Please note court staff cannot apply an exemption in any other circumstances.

You may be entitled to exemption from paying court fees in the following circumstances:

You or your spouse/civil partner are in receipt of:

  • income support
  • Income-based employment and support allowance
  • Pension credit guarantee credit
  • working tax credit, including child tax credit and gross annual income used for calculation of tax credit is £20,592 or less
  • working tax credit, including a disability element and gross annual income used for calculation of tax credit is £20,592 or less
  • working tax credit, including a severe disability element and gross annual income used for calculation of tax credit is £20,592 or less
  • financial or other assistance under the Welfare Funds (Scotland) Act 2015, within the period of 3 months prior to the date the specified fee would be payable but for the exemption.

You are in receipt of:

  • income-based jobseeker's allowance
  • universal credit (from 29 April 2013)
  • personal independence payment under Part 4 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, or
  • adult disability payment within the meaning given in regulation 2 of the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022

If you are applying for fee exemption as you or your spouse/civil partner are in receipt of one of these benefits, you must provide a letter from either DWP or HMRC confirming the receipt of the benefits. Your exemption cannot be processed without proof of receipt of benefits, or proof of receipt of financial or other assistance under the Welfare Funds (Scotland) Act 2015.

You may also be entitled to exemption from paying court fees if:

  • You are receiving civil legal aid in respect of the matter for which the fee is payable (Section 13(2) of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 refers); or
  • The fee is payable in connection with a simplified divorce or dissolution of civil partnership application and you are receiving advice and assistance from a solicitor in respect of that application (Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 refers); or
  • The fee is payable in connection with work being undertaken by your solicitor which qualifies for civil legal aid as matter of 'special urgency' (Section 36 of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 refers).

(Your solicitor can provide you with further information on fee exemption in these circumstances.)

You are applying for a principal remedy which is a specified interdict* or an exclusion order**.

*Specified interdict means:

  • a matrimonial interdict within the meaning of section 14(2) of the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981 (interdict competent where spouses live together);
  • a domestic interdict within the meaning of section 18A of that Act (meaning of “domestic interdict”);
  • a relevant interdict under section 113(2) of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (civil partners: competency of interdict); or
  • ·otherwise an interdict in respect of which there is an application for a power of arrest to be attached under section 1 of the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 (attachment of power of arrest to interdict); and

**Exclusion order means an exclusion order under:

  • section 4 of the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981(exclusion orders);
  • section 76 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (exclusion orders etc.); or
  • section 104 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (exclusion orders).

Applications where fee exemption does not apply

You cannot apply for fee exemption if you are:

  • making an application in relation to commissary proceedings (dealing with a deceased person’s estate) unless the estate of the deceased person is exempt from inheritance tax by virtue of section 153A (death of emergency service personnel etc.), 154 (death in active service etc.) or 155A (death of constables and service personnel targeted because of their status) of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 in which case there will be no fee in respect of the inventory of that estate.
  • lodging a petition for removal of disqualification from driving under the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.

Accepted payment methods

Made payable to "The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service".

Please check which types of card are acceptable with the appropriate court.

Made payable to "The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service".

If paying by post it is not advisable to make cash payments.

Fee Orders

The current Fee Orders are available on the legislation.gov.uk website links below.

The High Court of Justiciary Fees Order 2022

The Court of Session etc. Fees Order 2022

The Sheriff Court Fees Order 2022 as amended by the Sheriff Court Fees Amendment Order 2022 with effect from 1 July 2022)

The Justice of the Peace Court Fees (Scotland) Order 2022

The Sheriff Appeal Court Fees Order 2022

Frequently asked questions

Court and Office of Public Guardian (OPG) users are required to pay fees as set out in Scottish Statutory Instruments (SSIs) made by Scottish Ministers and then laid in the Scottish Parliament.

These orders mainly relate to civil fees but there are also some fees charged for criminal procedure (miscellaneous administrative procedures).

Amendment orders are made to cover a three year period, setting out the fees for the coming 3 years - current fee amendment orders can be accessed on Court Fees page.

The power to levy a court fee is in the Courts of Law Fees (Scotland) Act 1895 and there are a number of other SSIs that continue to be in force where the annual amendment order has not superseded a provision. Subsequent law has been passed that allows the Scottish Government (SG) to levy fees and later for this to be exercised through Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service officials.

The policy is to set court fees and fees for services at a level that recovers the full cost of providing services to users of the civil courts and Office of Public Guardian, taking into account agreed subsidies and exemptions.

The court fees do not include any fees you may need to pay if you have instructed a solicitor to help you. The solicitor can give you information on these costs.

See Court Fees page for details of current court fees.

Please select appropriate court to access lists of the fees that are charged for the most common applications and stages of procedure in that court.

Current fee amendment orders can also be accessed on the Court Fees page.

See Court Fees page for details of the criteria for applying for fee exemption and to download the fee exemption form.

Note: A number of statutory provisions for exemptions from paying certain court fees are applied by the relevant Statutory Instruments (Fee Orders). Exemption from payment of these fees can only be applied if you meet the criteria set out in the relevant Fees Order.

Please note court staff cannot apply an exemption in any other circumstances.

You cannot apply for fee exemption if you are:

  • making an application in relation to commissary proceedings (dealing with a deceased person’s estate) unless the estate of the deceased person is exempt from inheritance tax by virtue of section 153A (death of emergency service personnel etc.), 154 (death in active service etc.) or 155A (death of constables and service personnel targeted because of their status) of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 in which case there will be no fee in respect of the inventory of that estate.
  • lodging a petition for removal of disqualification from driving under the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.

By using the accepted payment methods listed above.