Extended civil restraint order

Forrester Ketley & Co v Brent [2008] EWHC 3150 (Ch) 19 December

The defendant was the subject of an extended civil restraint order made against him in proceedings brought by the claimant firm of solicitors for unpaid invoices. Charging orders were obtained in respect of the defendant’s interest in a residential flat. After a series of unsuccessful applications, the defendant was made the subject of an extended civil restraint order that restrained him from ‘making applications or taking steps in any court without the permission of the court in any matter involving or relating to or touching upon or leading to the proceedings’ in which the order had been made. The claimants obtained an order for the sale of the defendant’s flat and issued a bankruptcy petition against him. The defendant applied for permission to apply to discharge the extended civil restraint order on the grounds that it was ultra vires or unjust because it included a reference to ‘taking steps in court’, words that do not appear in the standard form of extended civil restraint order or in the relevant practice direction.