Enforcement by committal

Broomleigh Housing Association Ltd v Okonkwo [2010] EWCA Civ 1113, TLR 18 November

Whatever the practical utility of making suspended orders for committal as a routine response to a failure by a judgment debtor to comply with an order to attend for questioning, the decision in Islamic Investment Co of the Gulf (Bahamas) Ltd v Symphony Gems NV ( The Times 4 April 2008) was inconsistent with any approach which made such a response routine. Judges should not use a committal order against a judgment debtor, even when suspended, as little more than a vehicle for fixing a date for an effective adjourned hearing. When considering an application against a judgment debtor for a committal order under CPR rule 71.8(1) the judge has at least four options under rule 71.8(2), all of which he needed to consider.