An order is a piece of paper until it is enforced. The District Courts Act gives the creditor four routes, all beginning at the same Clerk’s counter, and the Magistrates’ Manual warns that Part IX is complex and uses terminology that is archaic in any other context. This article is the map; the rest of the group takes each route in turn.
The starting point: the minute of decision
(1) Where a Court convicts or makes an order against a defendant, a minute or memorandum of the conviction or order shall be made and signed by the Magistrate. (3) A document purporting to be a copy of the minute signed by the Clerk is prima facie evidence for all purposes of the making of the conviction or order.
The Manual explains that all enforcement proceedings originate from this minute, and that a formal order need not be drawn up under section 161 before enforcement begins. The creditor obtains a copy of the minute from the Clerk; that is the document every enforcement step is founded on.
The four routes
| Method | Provisions | Best for | Article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warrant of execution: seizure and sale of the debtor’s goods by the police | ss 173–177 | A debtor with a vehicle, stock, equipment or cash | Warrants of execution |
| Oral examination: the debtor questioned on oath about his assets and debtors | s 181; reg 43 | Finding out what the debtor has before choosing a method | Examining the debtor |
| Attachment of debts (garnishee): money owed to the debtor by a third party paid to the creditor | ss 180–191 | A debtor with wages, a bank account or a customer who owes him | Garnishee |
| Imprisonment of a fraudulent debtor | ss 192–199 | A debtor who has the means and refuses, is leaving, or disposed of assets to defeat creditors | Imprisonment of debtors |
Regulation 43 adds a fifth possibility: the Court may, at the moment it makes the order, on the creditor’s application, examine the debtor at once about his debts and property, without a separate summons.
No leave needed for execution
Where an order of a Court requires the payment of a sum of money or costs, the sum is recoverable, without the direction of the Court making the order, by execution against the goods and chattels of the person liable, and a warrant of execution may be issued for the purpose of levying that sum.
So a creditor does not need to go back to the magistrate; the warrant is obtained from the Clerk on the minute. Section 172 allows the Court or magistrate to postpone the issue of a warrant on conditions if it thinks it expedient, and section 165 lets the Court allow time or instalments, in which case execution waits until default.
Instalments and time to pay
Most District Court orders against individuals are made payable by instalments under section 165, recorded in the Instalment Book under regulation 14. On default in an instalment, section 165(2) allows enforcement of the whole balance as if no instalment order had been made. See payment by instalments.
Enforcement in another town
The Court that made the order enforces it, but section 166 lets the Clerk transfer enforcement by a transfer of fine certificate to the Court nearest the debtor, and section 10 allows a warrant to be executed anywhere in the country. See enforcement in another town.
Several debtors
Regulation 22 allows an order made jointly against two or more defendants to be enforced in full against any one of them, and section 149 allows an order against one of several jointly liable persons even where the others were not served, subject to the creditor recovering no more than the sum ordered in total. The Manual’s description is blunt: the creditor may enforce against whichever defendant provides the easiest target, leaving contribution between them to sort out.
Orders against the State
Section 13 of the Claims By and Against the State Act 1996 forbids execution or attachment against the property or revenue of the State. A District Court order against the State is enforced only by a certificate of judgment served on the Solicitor-General under sections 13(2) and 14 of that Act. See suing the State.
Fines and costs under a conviction
A fine or costs adjudged by a conviction against an individual is enforced differently: by imprisonment in default under sections 167 and 168, not by execution. A fine against a corporation is enforced by execution under section 173. See unpaid fines.
Orders from elsewhere
Part IX also serves other jurisdictions. A Village Court order for execution endorsed by a District Court magistrate under the Village Courts Act is enforced under Part IX; a compensation order under the Adultery and Enticement Act is enforced as a civil order; and the National Court, under section 235, may have a costs order on appeal enforced by a magistrate as an order for money. See the District Court and Village Courts.
The District Courts Act and Regulation are not on PacLII; both are on vLex (Act, Regulation).
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the District Courts Act (Chapter 40) and check for later amendments. The Act is not on PacLII; the figures and time limits quoted in this series come from the consolidation to No 8 of 2000, and the District Courts (Amendment) Act 2009 changes some of them once it is brought into operation. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.