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File an Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent (from 1 April 2022)

Find out what documents you need to prepare and what are the fees to pay when filing an Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent.

Note

This page is for matters that the Rules of Court 2021 apply to. For content relating to matters that the Rules of Court 2014 apply, click here.

If you are uncertain as to which version of the Rules of Court applies to your matter, click here.

What is an examination of enforcement respondent

In a civil claim, the court may order a party to pay a sum of money to another party. The party who needs to pay the debt is the enforcement respondent, while the party who should receive the money is the enforcement applicant.

If you are the enforcement applicant, you may apply through the Electronic Filing Service for an order to examine the enforcement respondent under oath to find out what assets are available to pay off the debt owed to you. Once you know the nature and extent of the enforcement respondent’s assets, you may then consider and select the most appropriate course of action to enforce the order for payment of money to you.

Applying for the examination of enforcement respondent

The enforcement applicant may file a summons to apply for the examination of the enforcement respondent.

When

You may consider filing an application for the examination of enforcement respondent if you are not aware of what assets the enforcement respondent owns and wish to find out (but not limited to) the following:

Valuable assets or property seized and sold.
Money in their bank accounts to be garnished.

How

File a summons using Form 41 of Appendix A of the Supreme Court Practice Directions 2021 or Form 41 of Appendix A2 of the State Courts Practice Directions 2021 (depending on whether it is a Supreme Court case or State Courts case). Where the enforcement respondent is an entity, the appointment of the officer of the entity to be examined must be specifically stated.

The summons may be supported with an affidavit which contains the grounds of the application and the judgment against the enforcement respondent which remains unsatisfied. An unsatisfied judgment is a judgment that was made in your favour (for example, an order for the enforcement respondent to pay you $5,000), but which the enforcement respondent has not complied with (for example, the full $5,000 has not been paid yet).

You must follow Paragraph 145 of the Supreme Court Practice Directions 2021 or Order 22 Rule 11 of the Rules of Court 2021. You must also comply with Paragraph 100 of the State Courts Practice Directions 2021 (depending on whether it is a Supreme Court case or State Courts case) in preparing your documents.

Estimated fees

Refer to the following to find out the possible fees for filing the documents. You may also refer to the Fourth Schedule of the Rules of Court 2021 for the full list of court fees.

In addition to the fees listed in the table, there are also other fees payable to the LawNet & CrimsonLogic Service Bureau.

Item or service	Fees
File the application in an existing case	$10
Extract the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent	$25
File a Request to Appoint Date for Examination by an Officer of Court	$50 per request + $50 per witness, per hour

Item or service

Fees

File the application in an existing case

$10

Extract the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent

$25

File a Request to Appoint Date for Examination by an Officer of Court

$50 per request + $50 per witness, per hour

In addition to the fees listed in the table, there are also other fees payable to the LawNet & CrimsonLogic Service Bureau.

Item or service	Fees
File the application in an existing case or an Originating Application without notice if you are enforcing an order of the Small Claims Tribunal or a settlement agreement registered under section 7(2) of the Employment Claims Act or an order of the Employment Claims Tribunal	$20; or $10 (for enforcing an order of the Small Claims Tribunal or Employment Claims Tribunal or settlement agreement under the Employment Claims Act)
Extract the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent	$50; or $10 (for enforcing an order of the Small Claims Tribunal or Employment Claims Tribunal or settlement agreement under the Employment Claims Act)
File a Request to Appoint Date for Examination by an Officer of Court	$50 per request + $100 per witness, per hour

Item or service

Fees

File the application in an existing case or an Originating Application without notice if you are enforcing an order of the Small Claims Tribunal or a settlement agreement registered under section 7(2) of the Employment Claims Act or an order of the Employment Claims Tribunal

$20; or

$10 (for enforcing an order of the Small Claims Tribunal or Employment Claims Tribunal or settlement agreement under the Employment Claims Act)

Extract the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent

$50; or

$10 (for enforcing an order of the Small Claims Tribunal or Employment Claims Tribunal or settlement agreement under the Employment Claims Act)

File a Request to Appoint Date for Examination by an Officer of Court

$50 per request + $100 per witness, per hour

Refer to the following for the filing fees if your claim is up to $1 million.

In addition to the fees listed in the table, there are also other fees payable to the LawNet & CrimsonLogic Service Bureau.

$100 per request + $250 per witness, per hour

Item or service	Fees
File the application	$100
Extract the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent	$100
File a Request to Appoint Date for Examination by an Officer of Court

Refer to the following for the filing fees if your claim is more than $1 million.

In addition to the fees listed in the table, there are also other fees payable to the LawNet & CrimsonLogic Service Bureau.

$200 per request + $500 per witness, per hour

Item or service	Fees
File the application	$200
Extract the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent	$200
File a Request to Appoint Date for Examination by an Officer of Court

After you file

You will be notified of the outcome of your application for the Order for Examination of Judgment Debtor by a Registrar's Direction.

If your application is successful, you will have to:

(For Magistrate's Court and District Court cases) Extract the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent and file a Request to Appoint Date for Examination at the LawNet & CrimsonLogic Service Bureau.
(For General Division of the High Court cases) Extract the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent and file a Request to Appoint Date for Examination at the LawNet & CrimsonLogic Service Bureau.

You will then have to serve the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent together with one of the following questionnaires on the enforcement respondent.

If the enforcement respondent is...	You will need to serve...
An individual	(For cases heard in the Magistrate's Court or District Court) The questionnaire for the examination of an individual enforcement respondent (Form 23, Appendix A1, State Courts Practice Directions 2021). (For cases heard in the General Division of the High Court) The questionnaire for the examination of an individual enforcement respondent (Form 41, Appendix B, Supreme Court Practice Directions 2021).
A body corporate	(For cases heard in the Magistrate's Court or District Court) The questionnaire for the examination of an officer enforcement respondent (Form 24, Appendix A1, State Courts Practice Directions 2021). (For cases heard in the General Division of the High Court) The questionnaire for the examination of an officer enforcement respondent (Form 42, Appendix B, Supreme Court Practice Directions 2021).

The enforcement respondent will have to:

Complete the questionnaire.
- They will have to include all documents in support of their answers stated in the questionnaire.
Serve the completed questionnaire and supporting documents on you or your lawyers (if applicable) before the court hearing date stated in the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent.

If you are satisfied with their answers to the questionnaire and the supporting documents provided, you may apply for the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent to be discharged. Before doing so, you may wish to request the enforcement respondent to provide their answers via an affidavit or statutory declaration.

If you are not satisfied with the answers to the questionnaire and the supporting documents provided, you will have to attend court with the enforcement respondent for an examination hearing at the date and time stated in the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent.

Alternatively, the enforcement respondent may also choose to be examined at the hearing instead.

At the examination hearing

The examination of enforcement respondent hearing will be conducted before a court officer called a deputy registrar (for Magistrate's Court and District Court cases) or an assistant registrar (for General Division of the High Court cases) in chambers.

During the hearing, you or your lawyers (if any) may examine the enforcement respondent in relation to the assets during the hearing. The enforcement respondent has to answer your relevant questions under oath and produce supporting documents when required.

You or your lawyers may also request the enforcement respondent to file an affidavit or statutory declaration if required.

After the examination is completed, you or your lawyers may then apply to discharge the Order of the Examination of Enforcement Respondent.

Attendance of the judgment debtor

In general, the enforcement respondent does not have to attend the examination hearing if one of the following happens:

The enforcement respondent is able to pay the debt owed to you before the hearing and you agree to discharge the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent.
The enforcement respondent and you agree to enter into an instalment plan for the debt owed and you agree to discharge the Order for Examination of Enforcement Respondent.

If the enforcement respondent does not attend the examination hearing without valid reasons, you may start committal proceedings against them.

Need help?

The information here is for general guidance as the courts do not provide legal advice. If you need further help, you may want to get independent legal advice.

Find out more