Supreme Court Practice Directions 2021

Part 12: Judgments and Orders

107. Draft orders

(1) Order 17, Rule 3(5) and (6) of the Rules of Court 2021 place the burden of approving the drafts of judgments and orders on the solicitors themselves. The solicitors should therefore approve the drafts and not submit these drafts to the Registrar for approval.

(2) The Registrar’s signature on a judgment or order is only for the purpose of validity and does not in any way affect the regularity or irregularity of the contents of any judgment or order.

(3) Subject to sub-paragraph (4), parties in applications with notice should proceed to engross a final copy of the draft judgment or order for signature by the Registrar after agreeing on the draft. Draft orders for applications without notice may be submitted with the application without notice and the supporting affidavit when these are filed.

(4) For draft orders in electronic form that are composed online through the Electronic Filing Service, the process for extracting judgments and orders is as follows:

(5) Order 17, Rule 3(7) and (8) of the Rules of Court 2021 will apply where there is a dispute on the terms of the draft order:

(6) Where any of the other parties has no solicitor, the draft order is to be submitted to the Registrar.

108. Judgment in default

(1) The procedure for applying for judgment to be given where, within the prescribed period, (a) no notice of intention to contest or not contest is filed and served, (b) a notice stating that the defendant does not intend to contest is filed and served, (c) no defence or defence to counterclaim is filed and served, is by filing an application in Forms 11 or 14 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions, as the case may be.

(2) A party filing an application for judgment in default in Form 11 or 14 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions must also file a memorandum of service in Form 12 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions, a draft of the judgment which the party seeks to apply for, a note of costs, and, where the judgment is for possession of immovable property, a certificate by the party’s solicitor (or where the party is not legally represented, an affidavit) stating that no relief is sought in the nature of reliefs under Order 52, Rule 1 of the Rules of Court 2021.

(3) In order to satisfy itself that judgment should be given under Order 6, Rule 6(5) or 7(7) of the Rules of Court 2021, the Court may require an affidavit to be filed stating the time, place and method of service of the originating claim on the defendant, as well as the fact that the defendant had, within the prescribed period, failed to file and serve a notice of intention to contest or not contest, or a defence, as the case may be.

(4) Sub-paragraph (3) applies, with the necessary modifications, to a judgment in default under Order 6, Rule 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021.

109. Judgment Interest

Interest rates in judgments in default under Order 6, Rule 6(5), 7(7) or 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021

(1) The directions set out in sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) must be observed when applying for judgments in default under Order 6, Rule 6(5), 7(7) or 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021. In respect of post-judgment interest for such judgments in default, please refer to sub- paragraph (4).

Pre-judgment non-contractual interest

(2) For non-contractual interest:

Pre-judgment contractual interest

(3) For contractual interest:

Post-judgment interest

(4) In respect of post-judgment interest for judgments in default under Order 6, Rule 6(5), 7(7) or 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021, parties may refer to Order 17, Rule 5 of the Rules of Court 2021.

Interest under an order of court made under Order 13, Rule 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021

(5) If an order of court made under Order 13, Rule 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021 includes an order for interest on the sum shown by the receiver’s account as due from him or her and which the receiver has failed to pay into Court, the rate of interest applicable to such an order is 5.33% per year in accordance with Order 17, Rule 5(1)(b) of the Rules of Court 2021. Interest will accrue for the period during which the sum was in the possession of the receiver.

(1) In any request or application for a judgment or order by consent or on agreed terms involving any disposition or transfer of property, parties must provide the following information to the Court:

(2) The Court may require the information in this paragraph to be provided by way of affidavit, including exhibiting the relevant searches where applicable.

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