Interim Relief, Injunctions and Enforcement

There are occasions when you need to prevent the other party from assets being dissipated, you need relief, or you will not be able to continue with proceedings or an order/judgment is not satisfied, and you need to enforce it. Relief may need to be considered at the outset before proceedings are issued or it may defeat the claim, as assets could be dissipated which will make enforcement very difficult, if not impossible.

An injunction is a form of interim relief. This may need to be obtained to the main the status quo however it should only be made if there is evidence that, if at the conclusion of the proceedings, it would render for example a property in dispute to be dissipated, and to ensure that money in the bank account or shares in a company are not transferred.

Interim relief can be made at any time during proceedings, and you do not need to be the claimant to make such an application. If you are the claimant and an application for interim relief is made at the onset of proceedings, it must be accompanied by a claim; interim relief cannot be obtained on its own.

An application can be made without notice to the other party, if advised. In this instance, the applicant will be required to give an undertaking for damages to the court and would be required to disclose equity in any property and/or provide updated bank statements. These are needed to prove that there are funds available to pay damages to the other party if the injunction should not have been granted and has affected the other party, i.e., they have suffered a loss.

There are also occasions when interim relief needs to be obtained so that it allows you to litigate the matter. For example, if you have lost your trading licence and you want to dispute its revocation, however you need temporary approval, or you will lose your ability to litigate.

If you have obtained an interim order, final order or judgment and the other party has failed to satisfy the same, get in touch. Our specialist team will assist you in enforcing the same.

There are different types of enforcement, for example:

• Charging orders
• Third party debt orders
• Warrant of execution
• Bankruptcy or winding up

Enforcement action can be taken on an interim order for example if a cost order is not made.

Relief, remedy and the results you are seeking should be considered at the beginning of the case. We can assist and advise you on your commercial needs and merits of the matter and whether enforcement action is appropriate. If so, our team will be on hand to assist you until the end.