Judgments are ‘worthless without enforcement’, says HHJ Karen Walden-Smith, senior circuit judge and chair of the Civil Justice Council’s enforcement working group. In this week's NLJ, she breaks down the CJC’s April 2025 report, which identified systemic flaws and proposed 39 reforms, from modernising procedures to protecting vulnerable debtors
A key recommendation is a single digital enforcement court, consolidating processes across jurisdictions.
Drawing on evidence from enforcement agents, creditors and debt advice bodies, the group found widespread frustration with inefficiency and oversight gaps. It rejected foreign administrative models but called for statutory regulation of enforcement officers and simpler court communications. The Ministry of Justice has now agreed to tighten oversight and review the Taking Control of Goods rules.
Walden-Smith concludes that reform must balance creditor rights with debtor protection: ‘the circle is not yet squared’, but the system’s inadequacies can no longer be ignored.
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