Applying to enforce without specifying the method | Financial Remedies Practice 2023-24

Applying to enforce without specifying the method

33.15 The applicant for financial enforcement is given the choice of: (a) applying for a specific method of enforcement (FPR 33.3(2)(a)); or (b) applying ‘for an order for such method of enforcement as the court may consider appropriate’ (FPR 33.3(2)(b)), usually referred to as the ‘general enforcement’ application. In each case the application is to be supported by a statement stating the amount due under the order, showing how that amount is arrived at, and verified by a statement of truth (FPR 33.3(1)).

33.16 The general enforcement application is a creation of the 2010 rules, and is distinct from the procedure requiring the debtor to attend court to provide information for the purpose of enforcement (under CPR Part 71, formerly known as ‘oral examination’, applied to family proceedings by FPR 33.23). The general enforcement application is well suited to cases where: (a) there is no up-to-date evidence of a judgment debtor’s means; (b) there is no obvious asset or income against which to direct enforcement; or (c) there is a need to deal firmly and swiftly with an obstructive judgment debtor.

33.17 Under the procedural regime that applied until 5 April 2023, the court made an order, containing a penal notice, requiring the judgment debtor to attend court and produce such documents as may be described in the order (FPR 33.3(3), applying CPR 71.2(6) and (7)). The drawback was that, in the absence of a requirement that the debtor complete a Form E1 at the start of the process, the first hearing was almost invariably used to give directions for the production of documents. This led to delay and increased costs, and was considered to be a substantial barrier to access to justice by judgment creditors.

33.18 The new procedure, introduced by the Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2023 (SI 2023/61) with effect from 6 April 2023, remedies this shortcoming by requiring the completion, filing and service of a Form E1: see the new FPR 33.3(3)(b). The application itself is, as before, made in Form D50K (notice of application for enforcement by such method of enforcement as the court may consider appropriate: see FPR 5.1(1) and PD 5A), which must contain a statement of truth. The form has been substantially revised and updated.

Find this extract in full in Financial Remedies Practice 2023-2024, due to be published in June 2023.

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Financial Remedies Practice is firmly established as the essential, specialist reference for all family financial remedy practitioners.

Cited and used in courts every day, this unique book combines in a single portable volume authoritative Commentary on financial remedies practice and procedure together with the full and up-to-date text of the relevant Family Procedure Rules and Practice Directions.

What's new for 2023-24?

The existing material is fully updated. In addition, the text explains and analyses in depth the following major developments

• The unleashing of the law on injunctions (Part 20)
• The arguments in the open justice debate (Part 27)
• The online financial remedy system (Parts 5 and 36N)
• The prohibition of direct cross-examination by a perpetrator of a victim and the appointment of qualified legal representatives to conduct cross-examination (Part 3A)
• The new general enforcement process (Part 33)

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