While rare, the courts can make passport orders to prevent judgment debtors leaving the country. In this week’s NLJ, Chris Bryden and Clara Parry discuss the use of this legal technique and how these orders are enforced.
The subject of the order will surrender their passport so the court can be sure they will not abscond. Bryden, barrister, and Parry, pupil barrister, 4 King’s Bench Walk, write: ‘Given the significant interference to the liberty of the respondent to those actions and given the nature of the order, it is not to be used as an enforcement sanction in and of itself. Rather, in appropriate cases, it is a tool that can facilitate enforcement.’
They examine the circumstances and parameters for which such an order would be appropriate, setting out relevant caselaw.RELATED ARTICLES
