Court Fees FAQs

Please note new court fees apply from 1 April 2024

How are court fees set?

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Act 1895 and there are a number of other SSIs that continue to be in force where the annual amendment order has not superseded a provision.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.

How are the amounts of court fees decided?

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.

Do the court fees include solicitor's fees?

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.

What are the current court fees?

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.

Am I entitled to exemption from paying court fees?

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. 

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.

How do I pay the court fee?

Acceptable payment methods are:

• Cheques - Made payable to "The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service"
• Debit Card & Credit Card - Please check which types of card are acceptable with the appropriate court
• Postal Order - Made payable to "The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service"
• Cash - If paying by post it is not advisable to make cash payments