High Court Judgments
by David Carter on 10 August 2011
When you are seeking to obtain a judgment for a debt of £25,000 and above, the claimant may choose to use the High Court instead of the County Court.
Depending upon the circumstances of the claim, the case will be held in either the Queen’s Bench Division or the Chancery Division and the successful claimant will be awarded a High Court Judgment.
Unless the judgment is set aside, reversed or paid in full within one month, the judgment will remain on the Register for six years, exactly as a County Court judgment will.
Should the High Court judgment subsequently need enforcing to secure payment, the enforcement may only be undertaken by a High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO), using a writ of execution. In the case of judgments for money, this will be a writ of fieri facias (fi fa).
The judgment will obviously not need to be transferred to the High Court for enforcement as a County Court Judgment would. However, a writ is still required and must be applied for using Form PF86A. If the judgment was obtained in the Chancery Division then a statement of truth or sworn affidavit will be required to support the request for a writ of execution. When applying for the writ, the claimant will also need to provide a copy of the judgment and the court fee, currently £60.
Once he has the writ of fi fa, the HCEO will enforce in exactly the same way as he would a CCJ transferred to the High Court for enforcement; all the same rules and procedures apply.
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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.
