Fee-Paid Judicial Pension Scheme amendments
Download the full outcome
Detail of outcome
The Fee-Paid Judicial Pension Scheme (FPJPS) commenced on 1 April 2017 following a Supreme Court decision in O’Brien v Ministry of Justice [2013] UKSC 6 that fee-paid judges had been treated less favourably than relevant full-time salaried judges because they had not been entitled to a pension (O’Brien 1). Pension benefits under FPJPS presently only accrue for fee-paid judicial service on or after 7 April 2000, the date by which the United Kingdom was required to transpose the Part-Time Work Directive (PTWD) into domestic law. In November 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union handed down judgment in the case of O’Brien v Ministry of Justice (Case C-432/17), concluding that part-time work undertaken before the deadline for transposing the PTWD on 7 April 2000 must be taken into account for the purposes of calculating a retirement pension (O’Brien 2).
In June 2020 we published a consultation setting out proposals for changes to FPJPS to remedy the position for O’Brien 2 so that, where judicial service continues up to or beyond 7 April 2000, membership is available in respect of eligible fee-paid judicial service for periods before that date. We also consulted on proposals to update the list of judicial offices in the schedule of fee-paid offices in the FPJPS Regulations.
The government response to the consultation confirms that, in light of the responses received to the consultation, we will take forward our proposals to change FPJPS, carefully consider representations received concerning eligibility for membership of the scheme, and develop proposals for a trivial commutation facility.
Original consultation
Consultation description
The Fee-Paid Judicial Pension Scheme (FPJPS) commenced on 1 April 2017 following a Supreme Court decision in O’Brien v Ministry of Justice [2013] UKSC 6 that fee-paid judges had been treated less favourably than relevant full-time salaried judges because they had not been entitled to a pension (O’Brien 1). Pension benefits under FPJPS presently only accrue for fee-paid judicial service on or after 7 April 2000, the date by which the United Kingdom was required to transpose the Part-Time Work Directive (PTWD) into domestic law.
In November 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union handed down judgment in the case of O’Brien v Ministry of Justice (Case C-432/17), concluding that part-time work undertaken before the deadline for transposing the PTWD on 7 April 2000 must be taken into account for the purposes of calculating a retirement pension (O’Brien 2).
This consultation sets out our proposals for changes to FPJPS to remedy the position for O’Brien 2 so that, where judicial service continues up to or beyond 7 April 2000, membership is available in respect of eligible fee-paid judicial service for periods before that date.
We are also consulting on proposals to update the list of judicial offices in the schedule of fee-paid offices in the FPJPS Regulations.
Documents
Last updated 15 January 2021 + show all updates
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Welsh translation of consultation response published.
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Consultation response published.
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Welsh exceutive summary published.
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First published.