Administration of Justice Act 1982
1982 c. 53
An Act to make further provision with respect to the administration of justice and matters connected therewith; to amend the law relating to actions for damages for personal injuries, including injuries resulting in death, and to abolish certain actions for loss of services; to amend the law relating to wills; to make further provision with respect to funds in court, statutory deposits and schemes for the common investment of such funds and deposits and certain other funds; to amend the law relating to deductions by employers under attachment of earnings orders; to make further provision with regard to penalties that may be awarded by the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal under section 47 of the Solicitors Act 1974; to make further provision for the appointment of justices of the peace in England and Wales and in relation to temporary vacancies in the membership of the Law Commission; to enable the title register kept by the Chief Land Registrar to be kept otherwise than in documentary form; and to authorise the payment of travelling, subsistence and financial loss allowances for justices of the peace in Northern Ireland.
[28th October 1982]
Be it 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:—
1 Abolition of right to damages for loss of expectation of life.
(1) In an action under the law of England and Wales or the law of Northern Ireland for damages for personal injuries—
(a) no damages shall be recoverable in respect of any loss of expectation of life caused to the injured person by the injuries; but
(b) if the injured person’s expectation of life has been reduced by the injuries, the court, in assessing damages in respect of pain and suffering caused by the injuries, shall take account of any suffering caused or likely to be caused to him by awareness that his expectation of life has been so reduced.
(2) The reference in subsection (1)(a) above to damages in respect of loss of expectation of life does not include damages in respect of loss of income.
No person shall be liable in tort under the law of England and Wales or the law of Northern Ireland—
(a) to a husband on the ground only of his having deprived him of the services or society of his wife;
(b) to a parent (or person standing in the place of a parent) on the ground only of his having deprived him of the services of a child; or
(c) on the ground only—
(i) of having deprived another of the services of his menial servant;
(ii) of having deprived another of the services of his female servant by raping or seducing her; or
(iii) of enticement of a servant or harbouring a servant.
(1) The following sections shall be substituted for sections 1 to 4 of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976—
Right of action for wrongful act causing death.
1 (1) If death is caused by any wrongful act, neglect or default which is such as would (if death had not ensued) have entitled the person injured to maintain an action and recover damages in respect thereof, the person who would have been liable if death had not ensued shall be liable to an action for damages, notwithstanding the death of the person injured.
(2) Subject to section 1A(2) below, every such action shall be for the benefit of the dependants of the person (“the deceased”) whose death has been so caused.
(3) In this Act “dependant” means—
(a) the wife or husband or former wife or husband of the deceased;
(b) any person who—
(i) was living with the deceased in the same household immediately before the date of the death; and
(ii) had been living with the deceased in the same household for at least two years before that date; and
(iii) was living during the whole of that period as the husband or wife of the deceased;
(c) any parent or other ascendant of the deceased;
(d) any person who was treated by the deceased as his parent;
(e) any child or other descendant of the deceased;
(f) any person (not being a child of the deceased) who, in the case of any marriage to which the deceased was at any time a party, was treated by the deceased as a child of the family in relation to that marriage;
(g) any person who is, or is the issue of, a brother, sister, uncle or aunt of the deceased.
(4) The reference to the former wife or husband of the deceased in subsection (3)(a) above includes a reference to a person whose marriage to the deceased has been annulled or declared void as well as a person whose marriage to the deceased has been dissolved.
(5) In deducing any relationship for the purposes of subsection (3) above—
(a) any relationship by affinity shall be treated as a relationship by consanguinity, any relationship of the half blood as a relationship of the whole blood, and the stepchild of any person as his child, and
(b) an illegitimate person shall be treated as the legitimate child of his mother and reputed father.
(6) Any reference in this Act to injury includes any disease and any impairment of a person’s physical or mental condition.
Bereavement.
1A (1) An action under this Act may consist of or include a claim for damages for bereavement.
(2) A claim for damages for bereavement shall only be for the benefit—
(a) of the wife or husband of the deceased; and
(b) where the deceased was a minor who was never married—
(i) of his parents, if he was legitimate; and
(ii) of his mother, if he was illegitimate.
(3) Subject to subsection (5) below, the sum to be awarded as damages under this section shall be £3,500.
(4) Where there is a claim for damages under this section for the benefit of both parents of the deceased, the sum awarded shall be divided equally between them (subject to any deduction falling to be made in respect of costs not recovered from the defendant).
(5) The Lord Chancellor may by order made by statutory instrument, subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament, amend this section by varying the sum for the time being specified in subsection (3) above.
Persons entitled to bring the action.
2 (1) The action shall be brought by and in the name of the executor or administrator of the deceased.
(2) If—
(a) there is no executor or administrator of the deceased, or
(b) no action is brought within six months after the death by and in the name of an executor or administrator of the deceased,
the action may be brought by and in the name of all or any of the persons for whose benefit an executor or administrator could have brought it.
(3) Not more than one action shall lie for and in respect of the same subject matter of complaint.
(4) The plaintiff in the action shall be required to deliver to the defendant or his solicitor full particulars of the persons for whom and on whose behalf the action is brought and of the nature of the claim in respect of which damages are sought to be recovered.
Assessment of damages.
3 (1) In the action such damages, other than damages for bereavement, may be awarded as are proportioned to the injury resulting from the death to the dependants respectively.
(2) After deducting the costs not recovered from the defendant any amount recovered otherwise than as damages for bereavement shall be divided among the dependants in such shares as may be directed.
(3) In an action under this Act where there fall to be assessed damages payable to a widow in respect of the death of her husband there shall not be taken account the re-marriage of the widow or her prospects of re-marriage.
(4) In the action under this Act where there fall to be assessed damages payable to a person who is a dependant by virtue of section 1(3)(b) above in respect of the death of the person with whom the dependant was living as husband or wife there shall be taken into account (together with any other matter that appears to the court to be relevant to the action) the fact that the dependant had no enforceable right to financial support by the deceased as a result of their living together.
(5) If the dependants have incurred funeral expenses in respect of the deceased, damages may be awarded in respect of those expenses.
(6) Money paid into court in satisfaction of a cause of action under this Act may be in one sum without specifying any person’s share.
Assessment of damages: disregard of benefits.
4 In assessing damages in respect of a person’s death in an action under this Act, benefits which have accrued or will or may accrue to any person from his estate or otherwise as a result of his death shall be disregarded.
(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4 Exclusion of Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934.
(1) The following subsection shall be inserted after section 1(1) of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934 (actions to survive death)—
(1A) The right of a person to claim under section 1A of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (bereavement) shall not survive for the benefit of his estate on his death.
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(2) The following paragraph shall be substituted for subsection (2)(a)—
(a) shall not include—
(i) any exemplary damages;
(ii) any damages for loss of income in respect of any period after that person’s death;
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5 Maintenance at public expense to be taken into account in assessment of damages.
In an action under the law of England and Wales or the law of Northern Ireland for damages for personal injuries (including any such action arising out of a contract) any saving to the injured person which is attributable to his maintenance wholly or partly at public expense in a hospital, nursing home or other institution shall be set off against any income lost by him as a result of his injuries.
6 Award of provisional damages for personal injuries.
(1) The following section shall be inserted after section 32 of the Senior Courts Act 1981—
Orders for provisional damage for personal injuries.
32A (1) This section applies to an action for damages for personal injuries in which there is proved or admitted to be a chance that at some time in the future the injured person will, as a result of the act or omission which gave rise to the cause of action, develop some serious disease or suffer some serious deterioration in his physical or mental condition.
(2) Subject to subsection (4) below, as regards any action for damages to which this section applies in which a judgment is given in the High Court, provision may be made by rules of court for enabling the court, in such circumstances as may be prescribed, to award the injured person—
(a) damages assessed on the assumption that the injured person will not develop the disease or suffer the deterioration in his condition; and
(b) further damages at a future date if he develops the disease or suffers the deterioration.
(3) Any rules made by virtue of this section may include such incidental, supplementary and consequential provisions as the rule-making authority may consider necessary or expedient.
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed—
(a) as affecting the exercise of any power relating to costs, including any power to make rules of court relating to costs; or
(b) as prejudicing any duty of the court under any enactment or rule of law to reduce or limit the total damages which would have been recoverable apart from any such duty.
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(2) In section 35 of that Act (supplementary) “ 32A, ” shall be inserted before “33” in subsection (5).
(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Where a person (in this Part of this Act referred to as “the injured person”)—
(a) has sustained personal injuries, or
(b) has died in consequence of personal injuries sustained,
as a result of an act or omission of another person giving rise to liability in any person (in this Part of this Act referred to as “the responsible person”) to pay damages, the responsible person shall also be liable to pay damages in accordance with the provisions of sections 8 and 9 of this Act.
(1) Where necessary services have been rendered to the injured person by a relative in consequence of the injuries in question, then, unless the relative has expressly agreed in the knowledge that an action for damages has been raised or is in contemplation that no payment should be made in respect of those services, the responsible person shall be liable to pay to the injured person by way of damages such sum as represents reasonable remuneration for those services and repayment of reasonable expenses incurred in connection therewith.
(2) The injured person shall be under an obligation to account to the relative for any damages recovered from the responsible person under subsection (1) above.
(3) Where, at the date of an award of damages in favour of the injured person, it is likely that necessary services will, after that date, be rendered to him by a relative in consequence of the injuries in question, then, unless the relative has expressly agreed that no payment shall be made in respect of those services, the responsible person shall be liable to pay to the injured person by way of damages such sum as represents—
(a) reasonable remuneration for those services; and
(b) reasonable expenses which are likely to be incurred in connection therewith.
(4) The relative shall have no direct right of action in delict against the responsible person in respect of any services or expenses referred to in this section.
(1) The responsible person shall be liable to pay to the injured person a reasonable sum by way of damages in respect of the inability of the injured person to render the personal services referred to in subsection (3) below.
(1A) In assessing the amount of damages payable by virtue of subsection (1) above to an injured person whose date of death is expected to be earlier than had the injuries not been sustained, the court is to assume that the person will live until the date when death would have been expected had the injuries not been sustained.
(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3) The personal services referred to in subsection (1) above are personal services—
(a) which were or might have been expected to have been rendered by the injured person before the occurrence of the act or omission giving rise to liability,
(b) of a kind which, when rendered by a person other than a relative, would ordinarily be obtainable on payment, and
(c) which the injured person but for the injuries in question might have been expected to render gratuitously to a relative.
(4) Subject to section 6(1) of the Damages (Scotland) Act 2011 (asp 7) (relative's loss of personal services), the relative shall have no direct right of action in delict against the responsible person in respect of the personal services mentioned in subsection (3) above.
Subject to any agreement to the contrary, in assessing the amount of damages payable to the injured person in respect of personal injuries there shall not be taken into account so as to reduce that amount—
(a) any contractual pension or benefit (including any payment by a friendly society or trade union);
(b) any pension or retirement benefit payable from public funds other than any pension or benefit to which section 2(1) of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948 applies;
(c) any benefit payable from public funds, in respect of any period after the date of the award of damages, designed to secure to the injured person or any relative of his a minimum level of subsistence;
(d) any redundancy payment under the Employment Rights Act 1996, or any payment made in circumstances corresponding to those in which a right to a redundancy payment would have accrued if section 135 of that Act had applied;
(e) any payment made to the injured person or to any relative of his by the injured person’s employer following upon the injuries in question where the recipient is under an obligation to reimburse the employer in the event of damages being recovered in respect of those injuries;
(f) subject to paragraph (iv) below, any payment of a benevolent character made to the injured person or to any relative of his by any person following upon the injuries in question;
but there shall be taken into account—
(i) any remuneration or earnings from employment;
(ii) any contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance (payable under the Jobseekers Act 1995);
(iii) any benefit referred to in paragraph (c) above payable in respect of any period prior to the date of the award of damages;
(iv) any payment of a benevolent character made to the injured person or to any relative of his by the responsible person following on the injuries in question, where such a payment is made directly and not through a trust or other fund from which the injured person or his relatives have benefited or may benefit.
11 Maintenance at public expense to be taken into account in assessment of damages: Scotland.
In an action for damages for personal injuries (including any such action arising out of a contract) any saving to the injured person which is attributable to his maintenance wholly or partly at public expense in
(a) a hospital . . . or other institution; or
(b) accommodation provided by a care home service (as defined by section 2(3) of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (asp 8),
shall be set off against any income lost by him as a result of the injuries.
12 Award of provisional damages for personal injuries: Scotland.
(1) This section applies to an action for damages for personal injuries in which—
(a) there is proved or admitted to be a risk that at some definite or indefinite time in the future the injured person will, as a result of the act or omission which gave rise to the cause of the action, develop some serious disease or suffer some serious deterioration in his physical or mental condition; and
(b) the responsible person was, at the time of the act or omission giving rise to the cause of the action,
(i) a public authority or public corporation; or
(ii) insured or otherwise indemnified in respect of the claim.
(2) In any case to which this section applies, the court may, on the application of the injured person, order—
(a) that the damages referred to in subsection (4)(a) below be awarded to the injured person; and
(b) that the injured person may apply for the further award of damages referred to in subsection (4)(b) below,
and the court may, if it considers it appropriate, order that an application under paragraph (b) above may be made only within a specified period.
(3) Where an injured person in respect of whom an award has been made under subsection (2)(a) above applies to the court for an award under subsection (2)(b) above, the court may award to the injured person the further damages referred to in subsection (4)(b) below.
(4) The damages referred to in subsections (2) and (3) above are—
(a) damages assessed on the assumption that the injured person will not develop the disease or suffer the deterioration in his condition; and
(b) further damages if he develops the disease or suffers the deterioration.
(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed—
(a) as affecting the exercise of any power relating to expenses including a power to make rules of court relating to expenses; or
(b) as prejudicing any duty of the court under any enactment or rule of law to reduce or limit the total damages which would have been recoverable apart from any such duty.
(6) The Secretary of State may, by order, provide that categories of defenders shall, for the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above, become or cease to be responsible persons, and may make such modifications of that paragraph as appear to him to be necessary for the purpose.
And an order under this subsection shall be made by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(1) In this Part of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
“personal injuries” means––
any disease, and
any impairment of a person's physical or mental condition;
“relative”, in relation to the injured person, means—
the spouse or divorced spouse;
the civil partner or former civil partner;
any person, not being the spouse of the injured person, who was, at the time of the act or omission giving rise to liability in the responsible person, living with the injured person as husband or wife;
any person, not being the civil partner of the injured person, who was, at the time of the act or omission giving rise to liability in the responsible person, living with the injured person as the civil partner of the injured person;
any ascendant or descendant;
any brother, sister, uncle or aunt; or any issue of any such person;
any person accepted by the injured person as a child of his family.
In deducing any relationship for the purposes of the foregoing definition—
(a) any relationship by affinity shall be treated as a relationship by consanguinity; any relationship of the half blood shall be treated as a relationship of the whole blood; and the stepchild of any person shall be treated as his child; and
(b) section 1(1) of the Law Reform (Parent and Child)(Scotland) Act 1986 shall apply; and any reference (however expressed) in this Part of this Act to a relative shall be construed accordingly.
(2) Any reference in this Part of this Act to a payment, benefit or pension shall be construed as a reference to any such payment, benefit or pension whether in cash or in kind.
(3) This Part of this Act binds the Crown.
(1) The section set out in Part I of Schedule 1 to this Act shall be inserted after section 35 of the Senior Courts Act 1981
(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3) The Crown Proceedings Act 1947 shall accordingly have effect subject to the amendment in Part III of that Schedule, being an amendment consequential on subsections (1) and (2) above.
(4) The provisions mentioned in subsection (5) below (which this section supersedes so far as they apply to the High Court and county courts) shall cease to have effect in relation to those courts.
(5) The provisions are—
(a) section 3 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934; and
(b) in the Administration of Justice Act 1969—
(i) section 22; and
(ii) in section 34(3) the words from “and section 22” onwards.
(6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16 Interest on lump sums in matrimonial proceedings.
The following subsection shall be added after section 23(5) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (financial provision in orders in connection with divorce proceedings etc.)—
(6) Where the court—
(a) makes an order under this section for the payment of a lump sum; and
(b) directs—
(i) that payment of that sum or any part of it shall be deferred; or
(ii) that that sum or any part of it shall be paid by instalments,
the court may order that the amount deferred or the instalments shall carry interest at such rate as may be specified by the order from such date, not earlier than the date of the order, as may be so specified, until the date when payment of it is due.
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17 Relaxation of formal requirements for making wills.
The following section shall be substituted for section 9 of the Wills Act 1837—
Signing and attestation of wills.
9 No will shall be valid unless—
(a) it is in writing, and signed by the testator, or by some other person in his presence and by his direction; and
(b) it appears that the testator intended by his signature to give effect to the will; and
(c) the signature is made or acknowledged by the testator in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time; and
(d) each witness either—
(i) attests and signs the will; or
(ii) acknowledges his signature,
in the presence of the testator (but not necessarily in the presence of any other witness),
but no form of attestation shall be necessary.
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18 Effect of marriage or its termination on wills.
(1) The following section shall be substituted for section 18 of the Wills Act 1837—
Wills to be revoked by marriage, except in certain cases.
18 (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4) below, a will shall be revoked by the testator’s marriage.
(2) A disposition in a will in exercise of a power of appointment shall take effect notwithstanding the testator’s subsequent marriage unless the property so appointed would in default of appointment pass to his personal representatives.
(3) Where it appears from a will that at the time it was made the testator was expecting to be married to a particular person and that he intended that the will should not be revoked by the marriage, the will shall not be revoked by his marriage to that person.
(4) Where it appears from a will that at the time it was made the testator was expecting to be married to a particular person and that he intended that a disposition in the will should not be revoked by his marriage to that person,—
(a) that disposition shall take effect notwithstanding the marriage; and
(b) any other disposition in the will shall take effect also, unless it appears from the will that the testator intended the disposition to be revoked by the marriage.
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(2) The following section shall be inserted after that section—
Effect of dissolution or annulment of marriage on wills.
18A (1) Where, after a testator has made a will, a decree of court dissolves or annuls his marriage or declares it void,—
(a) the will shall take effect as if any appointment of the former spouse as an executor or as the executor and trustee of the will were omitted; and
(b) any devise or bequest to the former spouse shall lapse,
except in so far as a contrary intention appears by the will.
(2) Subsection (1)(b) above is without prejudice to any right of the former spouse to apply for financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
(3) Where—
(a) by the terms of a will an interest in remainder is subject to a life interest; and
(b) the life interest lapses by virtue of subsection (1)(b) above,
the interest in remainder shall be treated as if it had not been subject to the life interest and, if it was contingent upon the termination of the life interest, as if it had not been so contingent.
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19 Gifts to children etc. who predecease testator.
The following section shall be substituted for section 33 of the Wills Act 1837—
Gifts to children or other issue who leave issue living at the testator’s death shall not lapse.
33 (1) Where—
(a) a will contains a devise or bequest to a child or remoter descendant of the testator; and
(b) the intended beneficiary dies before the testator, leaving issue; and
(c) issue of the intended beneficiary are living at the testator’s death,
then, unless a contrary intention appears by the will, the devise or bequest shall take effect as a devise or bequest to the issue living at the testator’s death.
(2) Where—
(a) a will contains a devise or bequest to a class of persons consisting of children or remoter descendants of the testator; and
(b) a member of the class dies before the testator, leaving issue; and
(c) issue of that member are living at the testator’s death,
then, unless a contrary intention appears by the will, the devise or bequest shall take effect as if the class included the issue of its deceased member living at the testator’s death.
(3) Issue shall take under this section through all degrees, according to their stock, in equal shares if more than one, any gift or share which their parent would have taken and so that no issue shall take whose parent is living at the testator’s death and so capable of taking.
(4) For the purposes of this section—
(a) the illegitimacy of any person is to be disregarded; and
(b) a person conceived before the testator’s death and born living thereafter is to be taken to have been living at the testator’s death.
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(1) If a court is satisfied that a will is so expressed that it fails to carry out the testator’s intentions, in consequence—
(a) of a clerical error; or
(b) of a failure to understand his instructions,
it may order that the will shall be rectified so as to carry out his intentions.
(2) An application for an order under this section shall not, except with the permission of the court, be made after the end of the period of six months from the date on which representation with respect to the estate of the deceased is first taken out.
(3) The provisions of this section shall not render the personal representatives of a deceased person liable for having distributed any part of the estate of the deceased, after the end of the period of six months from the date on which representation with respect to the estate of the deceased is first taken out, on the ground that they ought to have taken into account the possibility that the court might permit the making of an application for an order under this section after the end of that period; but this subsection shall not prejudice any power to recover, by reason of the making of an order under this section, any part of the estate so distributed.
(4) The following are to be left out of account when considering for the purposes of this section when representation with respect to the estate of a deceased person was first taken out—
(a) a grant limited to settled land or to trust property,
(b) any other grant that does not permit any of the estate to be distributed,
(c) a grant limited to real estate or to personal estate, unless a grant limited to the remainder of the estate has previously been made or is made at the same time,
(d) a grant, or its equivalent, made outside the United Kingdom (but see subsection (5)).
(5) A grant sealed under section 2 of the Colonial Probates Act 1892 counts as a grant made in the United Kingdom for the purposes of subsection (4), but is to be taken as dated on the date of sealing.
21 Interpretation of wills—general rules as to evidence.
(1) This section applies to a will—
(a) in so far as any part of it is meaningless;
(b) in so far as the language used in any part of it is ambiguous on the face of it;
(c) in so far as evidence, other than evidence of the testator’s intention, shows that the language used in any part of it is ambiguous in the light of surrounding circumstances.
(2) In so far as this section applies to a will extrinsic evidence, including evidence of the testator’s intention, may be admitted to assist in its interpretation.
Except where a contrary intention is shown it shall be presumed that if a testator devises or bequeaths property to his spouse in terms which in themselves would give an absolute interest to the spouse, but by the same instrument purports to give his issue an interest in the same property, the gift to the spouse is absolute notwithstanding the purported gift to the issue.
The Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Treasury, from time to time by order made by statutory instrument fix fees payable in respect of—
(a) the deposit, registration or withdrawal of wills under this Act;
(b) the obtaining of information from the register; and
(c) any other thing which the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland is required or authorised to do under this Act or any regulations made thereunder in connection with the depositing or registration of wills.
(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3) In section 1(2)(c) of the Charging Orders Act 1979 (by virtue of which certain High Court orders for an amount exceeding £5,000 must be enforced in the High Court) after the words “High Court” in the second place where they occur, there shall be inserted the words “ or a county court ”.
The enactments specified in Schedule 3 to this Act shall have effect subject to the amendments specified in that Schedule, being amendments to restate the limits of county court jurisdiction and to provide for the raising of those limits.
(1) Subject to rules made under subsection (7) below, all sums of money, securities and effects paid and deposited in, or under the custody of—
(a) the High Court;
(aa) the family court;
(b) the county court ; or
(c) such other courts and tribunals as the Lord Chancellor may by rules made under that subsection prescribe,
shall be vested in the Accountant General.
(2) One or more accounts shall be opened and kept in the name of the Accountant General at such bank or banks as may be designated by the Lord Chancellor with the concurrence of the Treasury.
(3) Money and securities held by the Accountant General shall vest in his successor in office without any assignment or transfer.
(4) A sum of money paid and deposited in court may, . . . , be invested and reinvested by the Accountant General in any manner authorised by rules made under subsection (7) below.
(5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(6) The Accountant General may, in such cases as the Lord Chancellor may by rules made under subsection (7) below prescribe, apply to the court for an order for directions as to the manner in which a particular fund in court is to be dealt with.
(7) The Lord Chancellor, with the concurrence of the Treasury, may make provision as to the payment of interest on funds in court and may make rules as to the administration and management of funds in court including the deposit, payment, delivery and transfer in, into and out of any court of funds in court and regulating the evidence of such deposit, payment, delivery or transfer.
(8) Rules made under subsection (7) above may—
(a) provide for the discharge of the functions of the Accountant General under the rules by a person or persons appointed by him;
(b) provide for the transfer of money in court to and from the Commissioners;
(c) provide for money paid and deposited in the county court to be vested in, and accounted for by, a person other than the Accountant General;
(d) prescribe cases in which interest is to be paid on funds in court;
(e) prescribe cases in which funds in court are to be invested;
(f) make provision for the transfer of funds in court from one court to another;
(fa) provide for the payment of a sum of money in court into the Consolidated Fund if—
(i) the payment is in respect of funds in court which have been vested in the Accountant General under subsection (1) for at least 30 years, and
(ii) the conditions (if any) prescribed by the rules are met. and
(g) prescribe cases in which moneys payable under a judgment or order shall be paid into court.
(9) Any such rules may make different provision for different cases.
39 Investment of money transferred to National Debt Commissioners.
(1) The Commissioners may invest, in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Treasury, money transferred to them in pursuance of rules made under section 38(7) above or section 82(1) of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978 and the interest or dividends accruing on investments made under this subsection.
(2) If in any accounting year the aggregate of the sums of money received by the Commissioners by way of interest and dividends on investments made by them under subsection (1) above, after deduction of—
(a) any sum required by the Treasury to be set aside to provide for depreciation in the value of investments so made; and
(b) such sum as the Lord Chancellor may with the concurrence of the Treasury direct to be paid to him in respect of the cost to him in that year of administering funds in court, and
(c) an amount equal to the expenses incurred by the Commissioners in that year in making investments under subsection (1) above and disposing of investments so made
exceeds the aggregate of the sums due to be paid or credited in respect of that year by way of interest on funds in court, the excess shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
(3) If in any accounting year the aggregate of the sums of money received as mentioned in subsection (2) above, after deduction of the sum or sums falling to be deducted under paragraphs (a) to (c) of that subsection, is less than the aggregate of the sums due as mentioned in that subsection, the deficiency shall be made good out of the Consolidated Fund.
(4) The Commissioners shall pay to the Lord Chancellor any sum deducted by them under subsection (2)(b) above; and any sum received by the Lord Chancellor under this subsection shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
(4A) Any sum deducted by the Commissioners under subsection (2)(c) above shall be applied as an appropriation in aid of moneys provided by Parliament for the expenses of the National Debt Commissioners; and, so far as not so applied, shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
(5) If at any time the Commissioners are unable to pay—
(a) to the Accountant General a sum due from them to him under rules made under section 38(7) above; or
(b) to the Accountant General of the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland a sum due from them to him under rules made under section 82(1) of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978,
the Treasury shall provide them with it out of the Consolidated Fund.
(1) Where money or securities are deposited with the Accountant General under any enactment or subordinate legislation, whether passed or made before or after the commencement of this Part of this Act, they shall for the purposes of this Part of this Act be treated as if they were funds in court except in so far as—
(a) the enactment; or
(b) the subordinate legislation; or
(c) rules made under section 38(7) above,
provide to the contrary.
(2) In subsection (1) above “subordinate legislation” means Orders in Council, orders, rules, regulations and other instruments made or to be made under any Act.
41 Transfer of funds in court to Official Custodian for Charities and appropriate authority.
(1) Any funds for the time being vested in the Accountant General and held by him in trust for any charity or in trust for any ecclesiastical corporation in the Church of England may, if the Accountant General on an application made in that behalf to him by the Charity Commission or the appropriate authority thinks fit so to direct, be transferred to the Official Custodian for Charities or the appropriate authority, as the case may be.
(2) Any funds transferred by virtue of a direction given under subsection (1) above shall be vested in and held by the Official Custodian for Charities or the appropriate authority respectively in trust for the charity or ecclesiastical corporation upon the trusts upon which the funds were held before the transfer.
(3) In this section “ecclesiastical corporation” means a capitular body within the meaning of the Cathedrals Measure 1963 or the incumbent of a benefice and “appropriate authority” means, in the case of funds held in trust for a cathedral, the corporate body of that cathedral established under section 9(1)(a) of the Cathedrals Measure 1999 and in the case of funds held in trust for a benefice the Diocesan Board of Finance for the diocese in which that benefice is situated.
(4) The preceding provisions of this section cease to apply to the case of funds held in trust for a cathedral on the commencement in relation to that cathedral of the charity provisions within the meaning of section 53(7) of the Cathedrals Measure 2021
(1) The Lord Chancellor may continue to make schemes (“common investment schemes”) establishing common investment funds for the purpose of investing funds in court and money held by any person who in accordance with subsection (5)(b) below may hold shares in common investment funds.
(2) A common investment scheme shall provide for the fund thereby established to be under the management and control of an investment manager appointed by the Lord Chancellor.
(3) A common investment scheme shall make provision for the investment by its investment manager in accordance with the provisions of this section of funds in court transferred to the fund under rules made by virtue of section 38(7) above and of any sums of money transferred to the fund by persons who in accordance with subsection (5)(b) below may hold shares in the fund.
(4) A common investment scheme shall make provision—
(a) for treating the fund established by it as being divided into shares; and
(b) for treating a sum invested in the fund as being represented by a number of shares determined by reference to that sum and the value of the fund at the time the investment was made.
(5) Shares in a common investment fund—
(a) shall be allotted to and held by the Accountant General and
(b) may be allotted to and held by the Accountant General of the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland and any other person authorised by the Lord Chancellor.
(6) Where a person is authorised under subsection (5) above to hold shares in a common investment fund—
(a) he may invest trust money in shares in the fund without obtaining and considering advice on whether to make such an investment; and
(b) he may invest trust money in a common investment fund of which he is the investment manager.
(7) Moneys comprised in the fund established by a common investment scheme may, subject to the provisions of the scheme, be invested by the investment manager of the fund in any way in which he thinks fit, whether or not authorised by the general law in relation to trust funds.
(8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(9) The investment manager of a fund established by a common investment scheme shall not be required or entitled to take account of any trusts or equities affecting any share in the fund whether or not he is also a trustee of any such trust.
(10) The investment manager of a fund established by a common investment scheme shall be remunerated at such rates and in such manner as the Lord Chancellor shall with the concurrence of the Treasury determine.
(11) The salary or remuneration of an investment manager and his officers and such other expenses of executing his office or otherwise carrying this Part of this Act into effect as may be sanctioned by the Treasury shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament.
(12) There shall be charged in respect of the running of a common investment scheme such fees, whether by way of percentage or otherwise, as the Lord Chancellor shall with the concurrence of the Treasury fix and such fees shall be collected and accounted for by such persons, and in such manner, and shall be paid to such account, as the Treasury direct.
(13) There shall be retained or paid out of a fund established by a common investment scheme any expenses which could be so retained or paid out of trust property if the investment manager of the fund were a trustee and such expenses shall be retained or paid in the same way as and in addition to fees charged in respect of the running of the scheme.
(14) Fees and expenses recovered under this section shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
(15) Money and securities held by an investment manager of a fund established by a common investment scheme shall vest in his successor in office without any assignment or transfer.
(16) The power conferred by subsection (1) above to make a common investment scheme shall include the power to vary or revoke such a scheme.
If the Lord Chancellor, whether on a recommendation made to him by any person interested or not, certifies—
(a) that the Accountant General; or
(b) that the manager of a common investment fund,
has been guilty of any default with respect to any money, securities and effects for which he is responsible under this Part of this Act, such sum as may be certified by the Lord Chancellor to be necessary for making good the default shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament or, if and so far as it is not so paid, shall be charged on and issued out of the Consolidated Fund.
(1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council—
(a) repeal subsections (8), (10), (12), (14) and (15) of section 42 above and section 43 above; or
(b) make such modifications to those enactments as Her Majesty considers appropriate.
(2) Any Order in Council made under subsection (1) above shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(1) Accounts shall be prepared and shall at such times as the Treasury shall direct be sent to the Comptroller and Auditor General—
(a) in respect of his transactions under section 38 above, by the Accountant General;
(b) in respect of their transactions under section 39 above, by the Commissioners; and
(c) in respect of transactions in a fund established by a common investment scheme, by the investment manager.
(2) The accounts shall be in such form and shall be prepared in respect of such periods as the Treasury may direct.
(3) The Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine, certify and report on accounts sent to him under subsection (1) above and lay copies of them and his report on them before each House of Parliament.
(1) Any power conferred by this Part of this Act to make a scheme or rules or regulations shall be exercisable by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament (subject to subsection (1A)).
(1A) Where the power is exercisable by a Northern Ireland department it shall be exercisable by statutory rule for the purposes of the Statutory Rules (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 subject to negative resolution (within the meaning of section 41(6) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 ).
(2) The following amendments shall have effect—
(a) the words “ invested under section 38 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982 ” shall be substituted for the words “dealt with under section 6 of the Administration of Justice Act 1965” in each case where they occur in the followng enactments—
(i) section 46 of the Chelsea and Kilmainham Hospitals Act 1826;
(ii) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(iii) sections 70, 78 and 86 of the Land Clauses Consolidation Act 1845; and
(iv) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(b) the words “ section 42 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982 ” shall be substituted for the words “section 1 of the Administration of Justice Act 1965”—
(i) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(ii) in section 20(1) of the Insurance Companies Act 1958;
(c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(d) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(f) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(g) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In this Part—
“Accountant General” means in relation to England and Wales, the Accountant General of the Senior Courts and, in relation to Northern Ireland, the Accountant General of the Court of Judicature;
“the Commissioners” means the National Debt Commissioners;
“a common investment scheme” means a scheme made under section 42 above;
“funds” or “funds in court” means—
any money, securities or other investments (including foreign currency and assets) standing or to be placed to the account—
of the Accountant General by virtue of section 38(1) above; or
of any other person by virtue of rules made under subsection (7) of that section;
any effects deposited with the Accountant General by virtue of section 38(1) above;
but does not include any statutory deposit referred to in section 40 above.
(1) In its application to Northern Ireland this Part of this Act shall have effect subject to the following modifications.
(2) For any reference to the Lord Chancellor substitute a reference to the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland.
(3) For any reference to the Treasury substitute a reference to the Department of Finance and Personnel in Northern Ireland.
(4) For any reference to the Consolidated Fund (except the reference in section 39(4A)) substitute a reference to the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland.
(5) For any reference to moneys provided by Parliament (except the reference in section 39(4A)) substitute a reference to moneys provided by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(6) For the reference in section 45(1) to the Comptroller and Auditor General substitute a reference to the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland.
(7) For section 42(5) substitute—
(5) Shares in a common investment fund—
(a) shall be allotted to and held by the Accountant General of the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland, and
(b) may be allotted to and held by any other person authorised by the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland.
(8) For section 45(3) substitute—
(3) The Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland shall examine, certify and report on accounts sent to him under subsection (1) above and lay copies of them and his report on them before the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(3A) Section 41(3) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 applies for the purposes of subsection (3) in relation to the laying of a copy of accounts or a report as it applies in relation to the laying of a statutory document under an enactment.