» Section 2 The Government proposal
» Section 4 The current procedure
» Section 5 The proposed new transfer procedure
» Annex A The proposed new form (Adobe Acrobat required to view)
This document seeks views on the Government's proposal to simplify the transfer procedure from the county court to the High Court for enforcement by execution against goods.
Comments on this proposal should be sent by Friday 15 May 1998 to:
Audrey Fisher
Civil Justice Division
Lord Chancellor's Department
Room 3.23
Selborne House
54 - 60 Victoria Street
London SW1E 6QW
DX 117000
Tel: 0171-210 8767
Fax: 0171-210 0682
Your comments, clearly marked for the attention of Audrey Fisher, may also be e- mailed to: enquiries.lcdhq@gtnet.gov.uk
Copies of the paper are also available from the above address.
This paper can be downloaded in both Word 7 and text formats.
The Government is unable to guarantee that it will be able to take account of responses received after the deadline, although it will do its best to do so. The Department may wish to publish responses to this consultation, unless a respondent specifically asks for their response to be treated as confidential. Confidential responses will be included in any statistical summary of numbers of comments received and views expressed.
2.1 The Government proposes to simplify the procedure and form used for transferring cases from the county court to the High Court for the purpose of enforcement against goods by sheriffs. The proposed procedure is set out at Section 5 and a copy of the proposed form is at Annex A (Adobe Acrobat required to view).
2.2 It is proposed to implement this procedure before commencement of the Access to Justice Reforms. This procedure will be reviewed in the context of post judgment unified rules.
2.3 The current county court form N293 will be retained for cases where a certificate of judgment is sought for evidential purposes and where enforcement by other methods in the High Court is sought.
2.4 Your views are sought on the new procedure and the new form.
3.1 As part of a package of reforms arising from the Civil Enforcement Agents Review, the Department announced plans to simplify the procedure for transferring county court judgments to the High Court for enforcement by execution against goods.
3.2 The Lord Chancellor allocates business between the county courts and the High Court by means of the ‘High Court and County Courts Jurisdiction Order'. Article 8 of the order concerns the allocation of enforcement by execution against goods, setting upper and lower monetary limits.
3.3 Prior to January 1997 only creditors with a county court judgment for £2,000 or more could transfer cases to the High Court for execution against goods to be carried out by the sheriffs, rather than the county court bailiffs. Subsequent amendments to the Jurisdiction Order have reduced the limit for such transfers to £1,000, which enables a larger proportion of county court creditors to opt for enforcement by sheriffs.
3.4 A creditor wishing to enforce a county court judgment in the High Court against goods must currently comply with the procedure as set out in section 4.
4.1 After obtaining judgment, the creditor applies to the county court for a certificate of judgment. There is no fee payable. The certificate serves several purposes:
it contains details of any interest and costs incurred after judgment which are to be added to the judgment debt;
it acts as confirmation that there is no outstanding process in the county court that would prevent transfer, such as an application by the debtor to set aside or vary the judgment or an application for an administration order;
it acts as the order transferring the case to the High Court for the purposes of section 42 of the County Courts Act 1984 as amended by the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990.
4.2 The creditor must then take the signed and sealed certificate of judgment, with a copy, to the alphabetical section of the Action Department (Judgments) appropriate to the plaintiff's name at the Royal Courts of Justice or to the counter at a District Registry. The judgment counter clerk checks the certificate and, if satisfied that the transfer procedure has been complied with, allocates a number and dates and seals both the certificate and copy (which is retained by the court). The certificate is treated for enforcement purposes as a High Court judgment and interest at the appropriate rate runs from the date of the certificate.
4.3 The creditor then applies separately, using practice form PF 86, for the issue of a writ of fieri facias. A fee of £20 is payable. The certificate of judgment retained by the creditor must be endorsed by the counter clerk with the name of the sheriff who it is intended shall enforce the writ.
4.4 Under this procedure the creditor is required to produce several forms:-
the request for a certificate of judgment at the county court;
the certificate of judgment at the High Court;
the praecipe for requesting the issue of a writ of fieri facias and,
the appropriate prescribed writ of fi fa with copies for sealing.
5.1 The proposed new transfer procedure using the new practice form, at Annex A, is intended to work as follows:
The creditor or his representative will complete the first part of the form and submit it to the county court which has jurisdiction over the case;
Court staff will check the parties, case number, date and amount of judgment and, if no process as detailed in CCR O25 r13 (3) is outstanding, the proper officer will make the order for transfer by completing part 2 of the form. Court staff will return the form to the creditor, record that the case has been transferred, and notify the debtor of the transfer;
The creditor or his representative will then complete part 3 of the form and submit it and the appropriate writ of fi fa to the High Court with a copy of the county court judgment. The current fee of £20 will still be payable for sealing the writ.
5.2 By reducing the number of different forms involved to one form which serves as a request for a certificate of judgment, the certificate itself, and a request for the issue of a writ of fieri facias, duplication of information would be avoided and the procedure would be less cumbersome for those wishing to enforce in the High Court.
5.3 Form N293 ‘Certificate of Judgment or Order (for Evidence only) will be retained for cases where a certificate of judgment is sought for evidential purposes and where enforcement by other methods in the High Court is sought.
5.4 The current transfer procedure for other methods of enforcement and the simplified transfer procedure for enforcement in the High Court against goods will both be reviewed in the context of developing unified rules for post judgment procedures.