Enforcement and court working hours in December
by David Carter on 14 December 2011
The rules and guidelines on when enforcement action may take place vary according to the type of enforcement officer. The three main areas are High Court Enforcement Officers (HCEOs), County Court Bailiffs (CCBs) and Certificated Bailiffs.
Working hours
HCEOs can enforce at any time of day, although the Lord Chancellor’s department recommends that enforcement be carried out between 6am and 9pm, or during the normal trading hours of the debtor, if those differ.
CCBs can also enforce at any time of day, although they generally operate during normal working hours.
When collecting rent, certificated bailiffs can ONLY enforce between sunrise and sunset, which can make their day quite challenging during the winter months! However, this constraint does not apply to other enforcement action undertaken by certificated bailiffs.
Days of the week
It is not normal practice for any enforcement officer to enforce on a Sunday, a bank holiday, Good Friday or Christmas Day. If they need to enforce on one of those days, then they will need permission from the Court.
Whilst it is not compulsory to observe other religious holidays, most HCEOs will be respectful of these and will do their best not to enforce against people observing on those specific days.
Enforcement over Christmas
Many courts are closed over Christmas – quite a few are already closed for the holidays – so court papers are not normally issued over Christmas as a result.
It is worth mentioning that several of our clients have been advised by certain courts that they will not execute orders for possession during December at all.
But for writs already issued, enforcement can and does take place between Christmas and New Year. However, enforcement officers are human and do sometimes like a holiday as well!
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Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Sheriffs High Court Enforcement Ltd, trading as The Sheriffs Office. Sheriffs High Court Enforcement Ltd does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. The author will not be held responsible for any comments posted by visitors to this site. Please note that this article does not constitute legal advice. The author has used his best endeavours to make this article as accurate and complete as possible, but requests that the reader be aware that the law of England and Wales frequently changes. The author strongly advises the reader to take legal advice before embarking on any enforcement action.
