A Bit Of A Cheek

Doug has emailed to remind me of a rather cheeky aspect of the new HMCS fees order. HMCS can and do charge for Magistrates performing duties away from Court. If Doug performs a Police Attestation ceremony at Police HQ, in his own time at evenings or weekends, with no legal or administrative involvement from the Court, this attracts a fee of £50.00 plus £10.00 per officer attesting. In this case it's just transferring money from one public body to another, but the public can be caught too; for example if I sign a passport or driving licence application or similar, and that is the reason why I usually deal with these things in the pub, where I can expect a pint and HMCS doesn't get its rip-off fee.