Practice Note (Admiralty: Assessors’ Remuneration) of 1 September 2019

Admiralty CourtPractice Guidance

  1. This guidance is issued by Mr Justice Teare with the agreement of Sir Terence Etherton, Master of the Rolls, and Dame Victoria Sharp, President of the Queen’s Bench Division. It is issued as a Practice Note and not as a Practice Direction. It replaces Practice Note (Admiralty: Assessors’ Remuneration) of 1 April 2018.
  2. In the absence of special directions given in a particular case the level of remuneration which should normally be paid to Trinity Masters and nautical and other assessors summoned to assist the Court of Appeal, the Admiralty Court on the trial of an action, or a Divisional Court of the Queen’s Bench Division is as follows:
    • Full day’s attendance at hearing: £790;
    • Half day’s attendance at hearing: £395;
    • Attendance at court when case is not heard: £158 per hour;
    • Consultation with the court on a day when there is no hearing: £395;
    • Attendance to hear reserved judgment (including any consultation with the court on the same day): £199;
    • If notice of attendance is countermanded less than two days before the hearing: £395; and
      (1) Assessors should receive reasonable sums for their travelling expenses and subsistence;
      (2) Where there is a cross appeal, or where appeals are heard together, or where actions are consolidated or tried together, the proceedings should be treated as one appeal or action as the case may be;
      (3) In the absence of special directions given in a particular case, the remuneration and expenses should be paid by the appellant or the party setting down the action as the case may be without prejudice to any right to recover from any other party the amount so paid on assessment.
  3. The figures specified in paragraph 2 above are subject to annual adjustment.
  4. The guidance in this Practice Note takes effect on 1 September 2019 and is to apply to all actions and appeals the hearing of which begin on or after that date. For guidance concerning actions and appeals the hearing of which began before 1 September 2019 see the Practice Note (Admiralty: Assessors’ Remuneration) of 1 April 2018 (opens in a new tab).