Where a judgment debtor failed to comply with an order to attend court under rule 71.2 of the Civil Procedure Rules, the judgment creditor could apply for committal for contempt of court under rule 81.4 rather than use the procedure in rule 71.2. The Court of Appeal so decided on 6 September 2018.
The judgment creditor does not need permission to serve the application out of the application, as it is incidental to an order made under rule 71.2.
The case arose from a judgment debt owed by a company to a bank. The company director attended court, but allegedly failed to provide all documents required, and also made false statements to the court. The bank made a committal application under rule 81.4.
The decision was to some extent based on contempt of court being a common law offence. The rules related to procedure.
Deutsche Bank AG v Sebastian Holdings Inc. [2018] CA. The Times 30 October 2018 [18.10]