PART IGENERAL

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Judicial Pensions (Widows' and Children's Benefits) Regulations 1987 and shall come into operation on 1st April 1987.

Interpretation and scope of Regulations

2.-(1) In these Regulations–

"the Act" means the Judicial Pensions Act 1981;

"the Act of 1973" means the Administration of Justice Act 1973(3);

"contribution" means a contribution towards the cost of a widow's or children's pension;

"lump sum" means the lump sum payable, under section 17(1), (2) or (3) of the Act, on the retirement or death of an office-holder;

"office-holder" means a person serving in an office in respect of which a widow's or children's pension may be granted under or by virtue of Part II of the Act;

"periodical payment" means a contribution in the form of a deduction from an office-holder's salary;

"personal pension" means the pension for which an office-holder becomes eligible on retirement (or, if he dies in office, would have become eligible had he retired on the ground of infirmity at the time of his death);

"relevant service" has, in relation to the holder of an office referred to in section 16 of the Act, the same meaning as in that section;

"responsible authority" means, in relation to an office-holder, the person or body responsible for paying his salary;

references to a widow's pension include references to a children's pension;

"15-year office" and "20-year office" mean an office service in which for 15 or 20 years, as the case may be, is a condition of eligibility for an annual personal pension at the rate of one half of the last annual salary payable in respect of that office;

references to service in a 15-year or a 20-year office include references to successive periods of service in two or more such offices, being periods which are aggregable for the purposes of eligibility for pension;

"standard rate", in relation to periodical payments, has the meaning given by regulation 8(2).

(2) References in these Regulations to eligibility for a pension are, in relation to service in an office which carries entitlement to a pension, references to such entitlement, and references to the grant of a pension shall be construed accordingly.

(3) Section 28 of the Act (effect of certain nullity decrees) applies for the purposes of these Regulations.

(4) These Regulations apply in relation to the office of Lord Chancellor subject to Schedule 1.

(5) These Regulations do not apply in respect of an office-holder whose relevant service was wholly before 1st April 1987.

Application of Parts II and III

3.-(1) Subject to paragraph (2) below, contributions towards the cost of the liability for any pension or pensions under sections 16 to 20 of the Act in respect of a man's relevant service shall be made in accordance with Parts II and III of these Regulations.

(2) Parts II and III of these Regulations do not apply in relation to an office-holder in respect of whom there is in force an election under–

(a)section 11(1) or (2) of the Administration of Justice (Pensions) Act 1950(4) (election by person serving on 15th December 1950 against benefits for widows and children): or

(b)section 10(4)(b) of the Act of 1973 (election by person serving on 18th April 1973 against up-rating of widow's pension), in which case the contribution will, where paragraph 23 of Schedule 2 of the Act applies, be the amount prescribed by that enactment.

PART IICONTRIBUTION MADE ENTIRELY OUT OF LUMP SUM

Application of Part II

4.-(1) This Part shall have effect for determining the amount of the contribution (if any) to be made, by way of reduction in his lump sum, in the case of an office-holder who has made no periodical payments.

(2) No contribution by way of reduction in his lump sum shall be made in the case of a man who at no time during his relevant service had a wife.

Relevant service wholly after 17th April 1973

5.-(1) If the whole of the office-holder's relevant service is or, by virtue of an election made under section 10(4)(a) of the Act of 1973, is treated as, service after 17th April 1973, the amount of the contribution shall be three quarters of the lump sum.

(2) If the office-holder last had a wife at a time before the end of his relevant service, the amount of the contribution shall (instead of that in paragraph (1)) be three quarters of the lump sum–

(a)multiplied by the number of months of his relevant service before the time at which he last had a wife, and

(b)divided by the total number of months of his relevant service.

Relevant service partly before 18th April 1973

6.-(1) If the office-holder's relevant service is not, or is not treated as, wholly after 17th April 1973, the amount of the contribution shall be determined by applying the formula–

(2) If the office-holder last had a wife at a time before the end of his relevant service, the amount of the contribution shall (instead of that in paragraph (1)) be that arrived at under paragraph (1) multiplied by the following fraction–

Supplemental

7.-(1) For the purpose of determining the amount of any contribution payable under this Part, there shall be disregarded any amount by which (in consequence of the operation of section 17(2) of the Act) that sum may exceed twice the annual amount of the personal pension.

(2) If, under paragraph 16(3) of Schedule 2 to the Act (widow's or children's pension not wholly attributable to service after 17th April 1973), all or part of an office-holder's service before 18th April 1973 is to be left out of account, that service, or that part of it, shall also be left out of account for the purposes of this Part.

PART IIIPERIODICAL PAYMENTS

Election to make periodical payments

8.-(1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, an office-holder may elect to make periodical payments.

(2) Without prejudice to regulation 9 or 11(6), periodical payments may only be made at the standard rate, that is to say–

(a)in the case of a 15-year office, 4 per cent.; and

(b)in the case of a 20-year office, 3 per cent.

of the office-holder's salary for the time being.

(3) An office-holder who elects to make periodical payments must do so by notice in writing to the responsible authority not later than six months after his first appointment to his office–

Provided that an office-holder who marries (or re-marries) while in office and who is not then making periodical payments may elect to do so by giving notice in writing to the responsible authority not later than six months after his marriage or remarriage, as the case may be.

(4) An election made under this regulation shall be irrevocable, save that an office-holder who ceases to be married after having made such an election may revoke his election by notice in writing to the responsible authority not later than six months after his so ceasing.

(5) Nothing in this regulation shall be construed as preventing an office-holder who is not married from electing to make periodical payments.

(6) For the purposes of paragraph (3) above the appointment of an office-holder to another office (for example, the appointment to the circuit bench of a stipendiary magistrate or to the Court of Appeal of a puisne judge of the High Court) shall be treated as a first appointment.

Additional payments for back service

9.-(1) In this regulation–

"back service" means–

(a)service before 1st February 1974 (the date of the coming into force of the provisions reproduced in this Part); and

(b)in the case of an office-holder who has married on or after that date, service on or after that date for any period during which he has made no periodical payments;

"previous service" means back service before 18th April 1973.

(2) An office-holder who has back service and who elects to make periodical payments at the standard rate may also elect to make, in respect of that back service, additional payments at such one of the following rates as he may specify–

(a)if he is serving in a 15-year office, 4 per cent., 8 per cent. or 11 per cent. of his salary for the time being (that is to say, at the standard rate, or at twice, or at two and three quarters times that rate);

(b)if he is serving in a 20-year office, 3 per cent., 6 per cent., 9 per cent. or 12 per cent. of his salary for the time being (that is to say at the standard rate, or at twice, three times or four times that rate).

(3) An election under this regulation must have been made, or be made–

(a)not later than 30th June 1974; or

(b)in the case of an office-holder marrying (or remarrying) after 31st January 1974 and while still serving, not later than six months after his marriage or remarriage.

(4) An office-holder who has made an election under this regulation may at any time, by notice in writing to the responsible authority, either–

(a)revoke his election; or

(b)vary its effect by specifying a different rate of additional payments, being one of the rates mentioned in (a) or (b), as the case may be, of paragraph (2) above.

(5) An election made under this regulation shall, if it has not been previously revoked, cease to have effect when the offfice-holder has made additional payments for a period equal in length to his back service and for this purpose, subject to paragraph (6) below, for any period during which he has made additional payments at a rate higher than the standard rate, he shall be treated as having made such payments for a correspondingly longer period (so that, for example, if he has made additional payments at twice the standard rate for one year he shall be treated as having made additional payments for two years).

(6) If an office-holder's back service includes previous service (that is service before 18th April 1973), then, for any period for which he has made additional payments at the standard rate (or in accordance with paragraph (2)(a) or (b) above, at a multiple of that rate), he shall be treated for the purpose of paragraph (5) above–

(a)as having made those payments for one and a half (or one and a half times the said multiple) times such part of that period as, so multiplied, does not exceed in length his previous service; and

(b)in respect of the remainder (if any) of that period, as having made the payments for the remainder (or for the said multiple of the remainder), according as the payments were made at the standard rate, or at a multiple of that rate.

For example, an office-holder with 12 months service before 18th April 1973 who has made additional payments at the standard rate for 24 months will be treated under paragraph (5) above and this paragraph as having made additional payments for 8 of the 24 months at one and a half times the standard rate, and for 16 months at the standard rate.

Method of payment

10.-(1) An election under regulation 8 or 9 shall, so long as it is in force, constitute an instruction to the responsible authority to deduct the appropriate amounts from the office-holder's salary.

(2) Deductions under this regulation–

(a)shall be made from each instalment of the office-holder's salary as it becomes due; and

(b)may, if the office-holder so requests, also be made at the appropriate rate in respect of the office-holder's earlier salary specified in paragraph (3) below, and for this purpose the responsible authority may require the office-holder to repay such sum, if any, as may be necessary to make up the total deduction.

(3) The earlier salary mentioned above is the salary paid to the office-holder before the date of the relevant election–

(a)during the income tax year of assessment in which the relevant election was made, or

(b)during that year and during so much of the preceding year of assessment as elapsed after the relevant appointment, marriage or remarriage.

(4) No instruction under paragraph (1) above shall be taken to require the responsible authority to deduct, in any income tax year of assessment, more than 15 per cent. of the salary paid to the office-holder during that year.

Effect of making periodical payments

11.-(1) In this regulation–

"appropriate fraction" means 1/240 in the case of the holder of a 15-year office and 1/320 in the case of the holder of a 20-year offfice;

"full period" means 15 years in the case of the holder of a 15-year office and 20 years in the case of the holder of a 20-year office;

"gross reduction" means the amount by which an office-holder's lump sum would, under Part II, be reduced if he had made no periodical payments;

"previous service" has the same meaning as in regulation 9.

(2) Subject to paragraph (6) below, an office-holder who makes periodical payments at the standard rate for the full period shall not be liable to make any further contribution notwithstanding that he continues in service for a further period.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) above, an office-holder shall be treated, for every period of service during which he has made additional payments in accordance with regulation 9(2), as having made payments at the standard rate for an additional period equal to the period during which he has made (or is to be treated under regulation 9(5) or (6) as having made) such additional payments.

(4) If an office-holder retires or dies after having made periodical payments at the standard rate for less than the full period, the deficiency in his contributions shall be made up by a reduction in his lump sum, the amount of such reduction depending on the rate of personal pension he has earned and the length of the period during which he has made periodical payments and being calculated in accordance with paragraph (5) below.

(5) The amount of the reduction referred to in paragraph (4) above shall be arrived at by deducting from the gross reduction, for every month in respect of which the office-holder has made (or is to be treated, by virtue of regulation 9(5) and without regard to regulation 9(6), as having made) periodical payments at the standard rate, the appropriate fraction of his last annual salary.

(6) An office-holder with previous service who–

(a)has elected to make periodical payments and in whose case no election is in force under section 10(4)(a) of the Act of 1973; and

(b)is by virtue of the combined effect of regulation 9(6) and paragraph (3) above, entitled to be treated as having made periodical payments at the standard rate for the full period; and

(c)continues in service after having become so entitled,

shall, notwithstanding anything in paragraph (2) above, and without prejudice to any right under regulation 8(4) to revoke his election to make periodical payments, remain while so serving liable to continue to make periodical payments at a rate equivalent to one third of the standard rate until he has completed 15, or as the case may be 20, years' service after 17th April 1973.

Non-aggregable service

12.-(1) In this regulation–

(a)"primary office" means the office in respect of which eligibility for the personal pension arises;

(b)"secondary office" means an office other than the primary office;

(c)references to an election made by an office-holder include references to any election that may, if he has died, be made by another person in respect of him.

(2) This regulation applies to an office-holder whose successive periods of service in different offices are not aggregable (so as to be treated as service wholly in the latest office) for the purposes of eligibility for pension and who, under any relevant enactment, is entitled to elect between a pension based on service in a later office and one based on service in an earlier office.

(3) In determining the amount of any contribution to be made out of such office-holder's lump sum, no account shall be taken of any periodical payments made by him during service in a secondary office if that service is to be disregarded for the purpose of determining the personal pension for which he elects and any such payments shall, in accordance with regulation 13, be refunded.

(4) If account is to be taken of service in a secondary office for the purpose of determining the personal pension for which the office-holder elects, then, for the purpose of regulation 11 above–

(a)if the primary and secondary offices were both 15-year offices or both 20-year offices, any period of service in the secondary office during which he made periodical payments shall be treated as if it had been a period of service in the primary office;

(b)if the primary office was a 20-year office and the secondary office a 15-year office, any such period shall be treated as if it had been a corresponding period of service in the primary office multiplied by a factor of 4/3; and

(c)if the primary office was a 15-year office and the secondary office a 20-year office, any such period shall be treated as if it had been a corresponding period of service in the primary office multiplied by a factor of 3/4.

Refunds of periodical payments

13.-(1) Periodical payments made by an office-holder shall (subject to paragraph (2) below) be refunded, with compound interest added at a rate of 4 per cent. a year, by the responsible authority to him (or, if he has died, to his personal representatives)–

(a)if his service proves to have been insufficient to earn any widow's pension;

(b)if and insofar as the payments exceed those required to avoid any deficiency in his contribution being made up by a reduction in his lump sum; or

(c)in the circumstances mentioned in regulation 12(3).

(2) The responsible authority shall, in making any refund in pursuance of this regulation, deduct the appropriate amount in respect of tax charged under paragraph 2 of Part II of Schedule 5 to the Finance Act 1970(5).

Time limit for elections

14.  The responsible authority may, if satisfied in any particular case that it would be reasonable so to do, extend the time for giving any notice under these Regulations or for making any election under section 10(4) of the Act of 1973.

PART IVTRANSITIONAL AND REVOCATIONS

15.-(1) Parts II and III have effect subject to Schedule 2.

(2) The instruments specified in Schedule 3 are revoked, but without prejudice to their continued application in relation to an office-holder whose relevant service was wholly before 1st April 1987.

Regulation 2(3)

SCHEDULE 1OFFICE OF THE LORD CHANCELLOR

1.-(1) Parts II and III of these Regulations shall apply to the holder of the office of Lord Chancellor as they apply to the holder of a 15-year office, and subject to the modifications in this paragraph.

(2) For the purposes of regulation 8(3), and of sub-paragraph (3) below, appointment as Lord Chancellor for a second or subsequent term shall be treated as a first appointment.

(3) A Lord Chancellor may, whether or not he has back service, elect to make additional payments under regulation 9(2) by notice in writing given to the responsible authority not later than six months after his first appointment.

(4) An election under regulation 9(2) shall, if it has not been revoked under regulation 9(4), cease to have effect when the office-holder has made (or is to be treated by virtue of regulation 9(5) as having made) periodical payments at the standard rate for the full period, and no account shall be taken of regulation 9(6).

(5) For the purpose of arriving at the amount of the reduction referred to in regulation 11(4), regulation 11(5) shall have effect as if, for the words "last annual salary" there were substituted the words "lump sum determined in accordance with regulation 7(1)".

(6) Regulation 11(6) shall not apply.

2.  Any reference in these Regulations to retirement shall in relation to a Lord Chancellor be taken as a reference to resignation of office.

Regulation 15(1)

SCHEDULE 2TRANSITIONAL

1.  Regulation 8 shall apply to an election to make periodical payments made not later than 30th June 1974 as it applies to such an election made within the time required by paragraph (3) of that regulation.

2.  Regulation 13(1) (refunds of periodical payments) shall, in relation to any liability to refund arising in respect of service before 1st April 1979, have effect with the substitution, for the words "4 per cent.", of the words "3 per cent.".

3.  Subject to the preceding provisions of this Schedule, and without prejudice to section 17 of the Interpretation Act 1978(6), things done under the instruments listed in Schedule 3 before the coming into force of these Regulations shall, so far as the context permits, have effect as if done under the corresponding provision of these Regulations.

Regulation 15(2)

SCHEDULE 3INSTRUMENTS REVOKED

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations provide for the contributions to be made by men who are holders of certain judicial offices towards pensions for widows and children under Part II of the Judicial Pensions Act 1981. They reproduce the effect of the instruments listed in Schedule 3 without any change of substance.

The contributions may be made out of the office-holder's lump sum paid on retirement or death (Part II), or, if the office-holder so elects, by periodical payments (Part III).

The amount of the pensions towards which the contributions are made depends on whether part of the office-holder's service was before 18th April 1973 (the date of passing of the Administration of Justice Act 1973), and on the various elections available to office-holders which are mentioned in regulation 3; there are corresponding variations in the amount of the contributions.

The arrangements for making periodical payments by way of contribution were introduced in 1974, and regulation 9 allows the office-holder to make additional periodical payments to reflect service before the arrangements were introduced.

The regulations do not apply to an office-holder who has retired or died before 1st April 1987.