Enforcement of Court Judgements

The financial outcome of a court case

Enforcement can be a difficult process. It involves the imposition of financial penalties which the loser of the case has been subjected to. Enforcement occurs after the time and money has been put into the case and a judgement has been made. This process can be rather complicated in itself but the enforcement of financial penalties can be even harder. There are numerous methods to pursue the enforced court rulings which can even include simply instructing the defendant to accept the enforcements. However, if the defendant refuses to comply with the court’s wishes the court can take more action in enforcing the judgement – this can be done in one of four ways:

• Firstly the court may appoint a bailiff to enforcement the judgement. This is also known as a warrant of execution and is issued if any or all of the payment is yet to be paid. The bailiff will get in contact with the defendant, perhaps by visiting them at their own home where they may be made to produce payment or hand over possessions.
• The power of the court may be used to remove money from the person’s wages, which is known as an attachment of earnings order. For this type of enforcement to be carried out the defendant must be at least one payment behind and owe at least £50. The enforcement cannot be made, however, if the person is unemployed.
• The court also has the power to prevent the defendant from removing money from their bank accounts. This is known as a third party debt order and can be issued providing no payment has been made or a series of payments have been missed.
• The final method of enforcement involves the court directing the funds from a sale of their home or assets be handed over to you. The value of the assets must be equal to that of the sum of money owed to you as the claimant.