Legalisation of Documents

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A decision made (20/07/2009) regarding: Legalisation of Documents - Fee Increase.

Decision Reference: MD-HA-2009-0073
Decision Summary Title :	Legalisation of documents fee increase		Date of Decision Summary:	1st July 2009
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Customs & Immigration Service		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Legalisation of documents fee increase		Date of Written Report:	1st July 2009
Written Report Author:	Head of Customs & Immigration Service		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Increase of the fee for the legalisation of documents.
Decision(s): The Minister approved an increase in the fee for the legalisation of documents from £20 to £21 with effect from the 27th July 2009.
Reason(s) for Decision: Historically the fee for documents legalised in Jersey was aligned to the equivalent fee in the UK. However in June 2007 the UK fee increased from £19 to £27 and now stands at £28. In 2007 Ministerial approval was given to decouple the pricing structure from the UK thus making the Jersey service considerably cheaper. The Jersey fee has not been increased since June 2007 but costs continue to rise and the very modest increase from £20 to £21 (5% over 2 years) is deemed to be reasonable for the work and resources required to offer the service. The increase is compliant with Financial Direction 4.1 ‘Increases in States Fees and Charges’ which limits increases to 2.5% per annum.
Resource Implications: No manpower resources. Increased fee to be used to offset cost of service provision.
Action required: The Head of Customs and Immigration Service to implement the increase and place a notice in the Jersey Gazette.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Home Affairs
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Legalisation of Documents - Fee Increase.

CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION

LEGALISATION OF DOCUMENTS FEE INCREASE

Introduction

This paper recommends a modest increase of £1 from £20 to £21 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 that is provided 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 was the practice since inception of the local service in 1990 until decoupling of the fees in June 2007 when the UK increased their fees substantially from £19 to £27. The FCO is empowered to set fees by Orders made under the Consular Fees Act, 1980, the latest Order being the Consular Fees Order 2009 (SI 2009 No. 700).

The UK 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)

09.04.2009 - £28

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

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 RPI (X) for the 12 months to December 2007 was 3.2% and for the 12 months to December 2008 was 5.2%.

The proposed increase from £20 to £21 represents an overall increase of 5% over 2 years, or 2.5% for each of the years 2007 and 2008.

Therefore approval of the Minister for Treasury and Resources will not be required.

Recommendation

That the fee for legalisation of documents is increased to £21 from 27 July 2009

Michael Robinson

Head of Service

1 July 2009