Enforcement of county court judgments is a ‘seriously weak’ aspect of the justice system and in need of urgent reform, a new report has found.
A working group of the Civil Justice Council today called for a single unified digital court for the enforcement of judgments, regardless of whether they were obtained in the High Court or county court. A portal should be created with information about defendants’ financial position dealing with all the debts of one individual or party.
Court communication should be amended by the court service to use ‘clear and un-intimidating language’ and the cost of applying to set aside a county court judgment reduced from £303 to £123.
The group said the current two-tiered court-centred approach of obtaining judgment and then obtaining remedy does not work and adds unnecessary complexity. The recommendations will be considered by the CJC and a review published next year.
Sir Geoffrey Vos, master of the rolls and chair of the CJC, said the report should eventually lead to significant improvements in the enforcement system.
‘For too long, civil enforcement processes in England and Wales have been overly complex and unwieldy,’ he added.
‘There is an obvious need for rationalisation and modernisation, but it is a subject that has perhaps always been placed in the "too difficult box".’
In the county court, enforcement is carried out through officers commonly known as bailiffs who are either directly employed by HM Courts & Tribunals Service or by private enforcement companies employed by the court.
The working group, chaired by Her Honour Judge Karen Walden-Smith, said that anecdotally it seemed most defendants are not wilfully seeking to avoid paying that which they owe. While there is a proportion who could pay, but won’t pay, many defendants are endeavouring to balance between a number of financial commitments, potentially including other debts, in situations where they do not have the ability to pay all.
Most people who responded to the council’s call for evidence said the current civil justice enforcement system is performing poorly and needs to become less complex and more efficient. Commonly-cited problems included court delays, lack of communication from the court, lack of court resources and a shortage of up-to-date data for creditors.
Debt advice organisations described a court system that is slow, ineffective, underfunded and ‘near impossible’ for someone without help to navigate. Many users on the enforcement side cited shortcomings with the county court bailiff system - the lack of capacity with limited numbers of court bailiffs and the volume of work creating delays and frustrations.
The CJC concluded: ‘The responses from both "sides" of the enforcement debate complain that the current system is arcane and difficult to understand. It is slow and inefficient, and not as effective as it should be. Bailiffs, while greatly appreciated by those who are facing debt collection, are in a difficult situation.’
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