Enforcement Flashcards
What are Enquiry Agents?
Private investigators who procure extensive information on individuals or companies upon request
How can the debtor’s means be investigated?
- enquiry agents
- company searches
- registers
- nature of the opponent
- order to obtain info from the judgment debtor
What does a Company Search reveal?
Information which a company is required to file at Companies House
This includes details like company registration, financial statements, and directorships.
What registers can be searched for more information on the debtor?
- Land Charges Registry - prohibitions on use of land?
- Individual Insolvency Register - people who are bankrupt, have debt relief orders, individual voluntary arrangements
- Attachment of earning order index - shows debtors against whom there are attachment of earnings orders
- Register of judgments, orders and fines
What is included in the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines?
County court judgments from April 1990 onwards and some High Court judgments. It reveals if the debtor has unsatisifed judgments and who holds them.
What happens if a judgment is satisfied within 1 month to the entry in the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines?
Entry may be cancelled at debtor’s request
This provides a mechanism for debtors to clear their records quickly.
What is the consequence of a judgment being satisfied after 1 month on an entry in the register of Judgments, Orders and Fines?
Debtor may obtain a certificate of satisfaction but it will remain on the register
This allows debtors to prove payment but does not erase the record.
What is a legally aided opponent and what are the implications on enforcing judgment?
An opponent in receipt of legal aid, meaning costs and damages may not be recoverable
What does ‘Dissipation of Assets’ refer to?
Assets that might have been disposed of or moved
What can be obtained to prevent asset dissipation?
A freezing injunction
What is an Insured Opponent?
An opponent who could be indemnified
what is the procedure for obtaining information from the JD themselves?
- application to the court to question the JD (N316 or N316A)
- this can be made without notice to the JD
- the application must contain a penal notice
then served on the JD:
- personal service
- not less than 14 days before the hearing
hearing where the JD is questioned and answers on oath.
What may be desirable regarding judgments in other jurisdictions?
To seek to enforce the judgment of an English court in a foreign jurisdiction or vice versa
This is important for creditors with debtors in different countries.
What is the basis for most reciprocal arrangements for judgment enforcement?
A system of registration whereby judgments can be registered in another country and are then treated as if they were judgments of that country for enforcement purposes
What does the Hague Convention apply to?
The enforcement of English and Welsh judgments in EU states but only where the English Court had jurisdiction under an exclusive choice of court agreement
What is needed to enforce a High Court or County Court judgment abroad?
A certified copy of the judgment and written evidence
What is the written evidence required to enforce a High or County Court judgment abroad?
- claim forms
- statements of case
- evidence served
- grounds on which judgment was obtained
- whether D objected to jurisdiction
- show judgment has been served
- state appeal details
- state whether interest is recoverable
What is common law enforcement regarding foreign judgments?
This is where no relevant regime applies and the common law must be used to enforce judgments abroad
It often requires local legal advice and a judgment from an English or Welsh court to enforce foreign judgment under common law
