Fees

Fees are particular sums of money claimed as their perquisite by official persons under authority of Act of Parliament, prescription, etc. The right to fees, as well as the amount of them, has in many cases been regulated by statute. Officers demanding improper fees are guilty of extortion. [Extortion.] The honoraria paid to counsel and physicians for their services are also termed fees; but they cannot be recovered by legal proceedings, while solicitors', surgeons',and surveyors'fees canbelegally sued for. There are also school fees and surplice fees. As to school fees they are prescribed by the "Elementary Education Acts;" and as to surplice fees, they are not due to the minister as of common right, but depend on special custom only; while as to Easter offerings, it has been laid down that they are due of common right to him who exercises the spiritual functions of the parish, and that at the rate of twopence a head for all the parishioners of the age of 16 years and upwards. [Oblations.]