The Legal Officers (Annual Fees) Order 2025

1. Citation, commencement and interpretation (1) This Order may be cited as the Legal Officers (Annual Fees) Order 2025. (2) This Order comes into force on the day after the day on which it is laid before Parliament. (3) In this Order— “diocesan board of finance”, in relation to a diocese, means the board of that name constituted under the Diocesan Boards of Finance Measure 19252, and “the Measure” means the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Care of Churches Measure 2018.

2. Annual fees Schedule 1 sets out the annual fees payable— (a) to diocesan registrars in respect of the duties of their office specified in Schedule 2, and (b) to provincial registrars in respect of the duties of their office, except the duties and professional services specified in Part B of Table 2 in Schedule 1.

3. Payment of fees (1) The fees set out in the second column of Table 1 of Schedule 1 are to be paid by the diocesan board of finance. (2) The fees set out in the third column of Table 1 and in Table 2 of Schedule 1 are to be paid by the diocesan bishop or archbishop3.

4. Revocation The Legal Officers (Annual Fees) Order 20234 is revoked and is to be treated as having ceased to have effect at the end of 31st December 2024.

5. Duties of the diocesan registrar A diocesan registrar is not entitled to receive any additional remuneration for the duties specified in Schedule 2 except as provided in article 6.

6. Supplementary annual fee (1) Subject to paragraph (2), nothing in this Order precludes a diocesan board of finance from agreeing to pay any sum to a diocesan registrar by way of annual fee or retainer which is additional to the annual fee payable under Table 1 of Schedule 1. (2) Any such agreement must— (a) be in writing, (b) be expressed to be an agreement made in accordance with this article, and (c) state the period for which it is to run, or, if no such period is stated, remain binding until determined by not less than three months’ notice on either side.

7. Travel, subsistence and accommodation A fee specified in Schedule 1 is to be increased by a sum for reasonable expenses of travel, subsistence and accommodation.

8. Value Added Tax 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), the amount of Value Added Tax chargeable is payable in addition to that fee.

SCHEDULE 1 Fees payable under this Order TABLE 1 Annual fees payable to diocesan registrars [Table listing fees for each diocese] TABLE 2 Annual fees payable to provincial registrars PART A Fees payable [Table listing fees for provincial registrars] PART B Duties and professional services not falling within the scope of the annual fee

1. (1) Duties and professional services in connection with the matters mentioned in sub-paragraph (2) do not fall within the scope of the annual fee payable to provincial registrars. (2) The matters referred to in sub-paragraph (1) are advice or other work in connection with disciplinary proceedings against a clerk in holy orders which have been instituted under section 10 of the Clergy Discipline Measure 20035 or in respect of any disciplinary matters arising under or in relation to that Measure including under sections 30 and 31.

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, the professional services provided by the diocesan registrar in respect of the annual fee paid to him or her under this Order include— (a) to (l) [List of services] (m) acting in relation to the following matters on the instructions of the diocesan bishop, suffragan bishops or archdeacons or on the instructions of a diocesan board or council whose business properly includes such matters— (i) to (v) [List of services] (n) work in connection with the following matters— (i) to (iii) [List of services] Restrictions on the provisions of paragraph 1
2. (1) Where the registrar receives a request for advice on any matter properly falling within paragraph (1)(e) to (h), the registrar— (a) is not required to correspond with a third party involved in the enquiry; (b) before giving advice, must first consider whether the matter on which advice is sought is one which can conveniently be dealt with by the diocesan secretary or some other person or body in the diocese rather than by the registrar; (c) if a legal dispute arises between parties who are both church officers, may decline to advise either party but is at liberty to advise both parties with a view to helping them to resolve their dispute if, in the registrar’s judgement, it is desirable to do so. (2) The registrar is not required to attend meetings of diocesan boards, councils and committees except upon an occasional basis to give legal advice on specific matters. (3) But 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 the registrar is 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) do 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. (1) For the avoidance of doubt work in connection with the following matters does not fall within the scope of the annual fee but a fee calculated in accordance with the Solicitors’ (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 2009 is payable— (a) to (r) [List of excluded services] (2) In the case of the matters referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(e) to (j), the fee is payable by the bishop. (3) In the case of the matters referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(k)(iii), the fee is to be paid in such proportions as may be agreed between the transferor and the transferee and, in the absence of such agreement, the fee is to be paid by the transferee. (4) In the case of matters referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(n), the fees are payable out of cathedral revenues. Disbursements
5. If any disbursements other than expenses specified in article 7 of this Order are incurred in the course of providing any of the professional services in paragraph 1 of this Schedule the diocesan registrar is entitled to charge for them separately.