Wrongful committal

Couzens v Couzens (CA [2001] EWCA Civ 992)

While the requirements for strict compliance in committal applications have been eased, the court requires a balance be struck between fundamental failures and mere technicalities. In the present case a suspended committal order was defective, the court having failed to serve the warrant for committal on the contemnor in the prescribed form, namely Form N79. Failure in the present case to serve the order in the prescribed form was a fundamental defect not capable of cure. It was not a case of an error in the completion of the form, nor a striking out of a relevant portion of the form but was a fundamental failure to meet what amounted to an essential rule.