Part 12: Judgments and Orders

107. Draft orders 108. Judgment in default 109. Judgment Interest Interest rates in judgments in default under Order 6, Rule 6(5), 7(7) or 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021 Pre-judgment non-contractual interest Pre-judgment contractual interest Post-judgment interest Interest under an order of court made under Order 13, Rule 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021 110. Judgments or orders by consent or on agreed terms involving disposition or transfer of property

Order 17, Rule 3(5) and (6) of the Rules of Court 2021 place the burden of approving the drafts of judgments and orders on the solicitors themselves. The solicitors should therefore approve the drafts and not submit these drafts to the Registrar for approval.

The Registrar’s signature on a judgment or order is only for the purpose of validity and does not in any way affect the regularity or irregularity of the contents of any judgment or order.

Subject to sub-paragraph (4), parties in applications with notice should proceed to engross a final copy of the draft judgment or order for signature by the Registrar after agreeing on the draft. Draft orders for applications without notice may be submitted with the application without notice and the supporting affidavit when these are filed.

For draft orders in electronic form that are composed online through the Electronic Filing Service, the process for extracting judgments and orders is as follows:

Parties have the option of filing a system-generated order of court through the Electronic Filing Service. (b) Before filing the system-generated order of court, the party extracting the order must: (i) review and edit the order of court electronic form to ensure that it accurately reflects the orders made by the Court; and (ii) obtain the approval of all other parties to the application and provide evidence of such approval when filing the draft order of court, for example, a Portable Document Format (PDF) copy of the draft order of court signed by the solicitors of all parties to the application. (c) The Registry will seal and issue an engrossed order of court once its terms are approved.

Order 17, Rule 3(7) and (8) of the Rules of Court 2021 will apply where there is a dispute on the terms of the draft order:

In such a case, the party who drew up the order may write to the Court to resolve the dispute and the letter must set out the areas of dispute. (b) The party is responsible for including in the letter all versions of the terms of the draft in dispute between the parties and all relevant correspondence. (c) The Court may give its decision on the dispute on the terms of the draft without the attendance of the parties or fix an appointment to hear the parties on the dispute.

Where any of the other parties has no solicitor, the draft order is to be submitted to the Registrar.

The procedure for applying for judgment to be given where, within the prescribed period, (a) no notice of intention to contest or not contest is filed and served, (b) a notice stating that the defendant does not intend to contest is filed and served, (c) no defence or defence to counterclaim is filed and served, is by filing an application in Forms 11 or 14 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions, as the case may be.

A party filing an application for judgment in default in Form 11 or 14 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions must also file a memorandum of service in Form 12 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions, a draft of the judgment which the party seeks to apply for, a note of costs (where applicable under Appendix 1 to Order 21 of the Rules of Court 2021), and, where the judgment is for possession of immovable property, a certificate by the party’s solicitor (or where the party is not legally represented, an affidavit) stating that no relief is sought in the nature of reliefs under Order 52, Rule 1 of the Rules of Court 2021.

In order to satisfy itself that judgment should be given under Order 6, Rule 6(5) or 7(7) of the Rules of Court 2021, the Court may require an affidavit to be filed stating the time, place and method of service of the originating claim on the defendant, as well as the fact that the defendant had, within the prescribed period, failed to file and serve a notice of intention to contest or not contest, or a defence, as the case may be.

Sub-paragraph (3) applies, with the necessary modifications, to a judgment in default under Order 6, Rule 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021.

Interest rates in judgments in default under Order 6, Rule 6(5), 7(7) or 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021

The directions set out in sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) must be observed when applying for judgments in default under Order 6, Rule 6(5), 7(7) or 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021. In respect of post-judgment interest for such judgments in default, please refer to sub- paragraph (4).

Pre-judgment non-contractual interest

For non-contractual interest:

As provided for under Order 6, Rules 6(7) and 7(8) of the Rules of Court 2021, the rate of interest is 5.33% per year. (b) The period of interest is from the date of the originating process to the date of the judgment. (c) The total amount of interest payable need not be specified.

Pre-judgment contractual interest

For contractual interest:

For fixed or constant rate: (i) The rate of interest provided for must be specified. (ii) The period of interest must be as pleaded, except that it must end on the date of judgment and not on the date of payment. (iii) The total amount of interest payable need not be specified. (b) For fluctuating rate: (i) There must be an appendix attached to the draft judgment filed together with the application for judgment in default in Forms 11 or 14 of Appendix A of these Practice Directions, as the case may be, in the following form:

| Rate of interest | … % p.a. | | ---------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | | Principal sum | $ | | Period of interest | From … to … | | Amount of interest | $ | | Total amount of interest payable to date of judgment | $ |

The period of interest must be as pleaded, except that it must end on the date of judgment and not on the date of payment. (iii) The total amount of interest payable must be specified in the judgment. (c) Evidence of the agreement as to the rate of interest must be attached to the draft judgment.

Post-judgment interest

In respect of post-judgment interest for judgments in default under Order 6, Rule 6(5), 7(7) or 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021, parties may refer to Order 17, Rule 5 of the Rules of Court 2021.

Interest under an order of court made under Order 13, Rule 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021

If an order of court made under Order 13, Rule 9(3) of the Rules of Court 2021 includes an order for interest on the sum shown by the receiver’s account as due from him or her and which the receiver has failed to pay into Court, the rate of interest applicable to such an order is 5.33% per year in accordance with Order 17, Rule 5(1)(b) of the Rules of Court 2021. Interest will accrue for the period during which the sum was in the possession of the receiver.

In any request or application for a judgment or order by consent or on agreed terms involving any disposition or transfer of property, parties must provide the following information to the Court:

the owner of the property subject to disposition or transfer; (b) whether the owner of the property is incapacitated by reason of insolvency from effecting a disposition or transfer of the property; (c) whether the property is subject to any encumbrances which would affect a disposition or transfer of the property; and (d) any other relevant information which ought to be disclosed to the Court in granting the judgment or order by consent or on agreed terms.

The Court may require the information in this paragraph to be provided by way of affidavit, including exhibiting the relevant searches where applicable.