Increase of the fee for the Legalisation of Documents.

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A decision made (24/05/2007) regarding: Increase of the fee for the Legalisation of Documents.

Subject:	Increase of the fee for the Legalisation of Documents
Decision Reference:	MD-HA-2007-0039		Exempt clause(s):	N/A
Type of Report: (oral or written)	Written		Person Giving Report (if oral):
Telephone or e-mail Meeting?			Report File ref:	HAD/CST
Written report – Title	Legalisation Fees Increase
Written report – Author (name and job title)	Mike Robinson Head of Customs and Immigration Service
Decision(s): The Minister approved an increase in the fee for the Legalisation of Documents from £19 to £20 from 1 June 2007.
Reason(s) for decision: The fee used to be aligned to the equivalent fee in the UK. The UK fee has recently been increased form £19 to £27. The current fee increase of £1 decouples the pricing structure from the UK and thus the Jersey service is now considerably cheaper. The fee has not been increased since June 2005 but costs do continue to rise and the very modest increase from £19 to £20 is calculated as reasonable for the work and resources required to offer the service.
Resource Implications: There are no financial implications to the HAD from this decision. The increase meets the requirements of Financial Direction 4.4 – Increases in States Fees and Charges.
Action required: The Head of the Customs and Immigration Service to implement the increase and place a notice in the Jersey Gazette.
Signature: (Minister/ Assistant Minister)		Date of Decision: 24 May 2007

Increase of the fee for the Legalisation of Documents.

CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION

LEGALISATION FEES INCREASE

Introduction

This paper recommends a modest increase of £1 from £19 to £20 on the fee charged by the Service for the legalisation of documents. This follows a significant fee increase announced by the United Kingdom.

The paper gives a background explanation of the legalisation of documents in Jersey and the rationale behind the current recommendation for a fee increase.

Background

Legalisation is the official confirmation by a government department that a signature, seal or stamp appearing on a document is genuine. The legal basis for the operation of the service is the Hague Convention of 05 October 1961 “Abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents”. While the title of the Convention suggests that “legalisation” was to be abolished, what was actually introduced was a simplified procedure for authenticating signatures by the universal use of a certificate called an “apostille”. The provision of apostilles affixed to documents is the service this department provides and the process is loosely though now commonly referred to as “legalisation”.

The United Kingdom ratified the Convention on 21 August 1964 at the same time extending its application to Jersey. The issue of apostilles for documents originating in Jersey was undertaken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) until 16 February 1990 when the responsibility for this service was formally transferred to the Lieutenant-Governor. Due to the existing links between the Lieutenant-Governor and the Immigration & Nationality Department, the latter was charged with carrying out this function on behalf of the Lieutenant-Governor. The income generated was to be retained, and the costs of providing the service met, by the States.

There is no Jersey legislation setting out the legalisation fee. From the outset it was accepted that Jersey would charge the same as the FCO and that has been the practice since inception of the local service in 1990. The FCO is empowered to set fees by Orders made under the Consular Fees Act, 1980, the latest Order being the Consular Fees Order 2007 (SI 2007 No. 649).

The fees have been increased sporadically as follows:

16.02.1990 - £8 (existing UK fee at time)

01.12.1994 - £10

14.09.1996 - £12

16.06.2005 - £19

01.04.2007 - £27 (not implemented locally)

Prior to 1990 users of the service, mainly finance and legal businesses would have to get documents legalised by post or in urgent cases by more costly personal attendance at the Legalisation Office in London. Thus the provision of the service locally is of substantial advantage to the business community both in terms of time and money.

Fee increase

As mentioned above, the FCO increased its fee from 01 April from £19 to £27 (up 42% over 22 months). The FCO is empowered to set fees at rates which do more than cover its immediate costs. It can, for example, take into account past deficits when setting fees and use income for the provision of consular services in general. Future investment required can also be taken into account.

Historically Immigration have always charged the same fee as the FCO. It can be argued that this is the correct thing to do as the same service is being provided. Moreover Jersey has always charged the same passport fees as the United Kingdom so there was a precedent. However there are both legal and practical reasons why passport fees are kept in line with the UK. The same reasons do not apply to legalisation. It is very much a local service, albeit identical to that provided in the UK and conforming to the same international standards.

It can be seen then that there is no strong reason other than historical conformity as to why the same legalisation fee as the FCO should be applied in the Island.

The Treasury’s Financial Direction 4.1 states that “the prior approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources WILL NOT be required where the average increase in the fee or charge does not exceed the lesser of 2.5% per annum or RPI(X) over the relevant period”. The increase in RPI(X) for the period since the last increase (June 2005) to date is +5.9%. This is obviously higher than 2.5% per annum for the two years since the last increase and thus the latter is the figure that should be used. A 2.5% increase on £19 compounded for the two years would give a figure of £19.96. Rounded to the nearest pound this would mean a new fee of £20.

Recommendation

That the fee for legalisation of documents is increased to £20 from 1 June 2007.

Michael Robinson

Head of Service

10 May 2007