6.6 Appeals and Enforcement of Money Judgments

Permission to appeal

An appeal from a judge in the County Court or the High Court generally needs permission (CPR 52.3). The everyday exceptions are an appeal against a committal order (in the circumstances the rule lists), a refusal of habeas corpus, and certain secure accommodation orders. Permission may be asked from the lower court at the hearing (or an adjournment of it) or from the appeal court in the appellant's notice. If the lower court refuses, you ask the appeal court; you do not treat the refusal as the end of the road unless a specific provision says there is no further appeal (a refusal of permission to appeal by the appeal court is the usual full stop).

The first-appeal test (CPR 52.6) allows permission only where:

• the appeal would have a real prospect of success; or
• there is some other compelling reason for the appeal to be heard.

"Real prospect" is more than fanciful and less than "will win." A compelling reason might be a point of public importance that ought to be looked at even if the particular appellant's prospects are thin. Permission can be limited to issues and can be conditional (including a condition as to security for the costs of the appeal under CPR 25.29).

A second appeal — an appeal to the Court of Appeal from a decision of the County Court, family court or High Court which was itself made on appeal — needs permission from the Court of Appeal. CPR 52.7 is stricter: the Court of Appeal will not give permission unless the appeal would have a real prospect of success and raise an important point of principle or practice, or there is some other compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear it. Ordinary dissatisfaction with a Circuit Judge who upheld a District Judge is not a second-appeal ticket.

Time. File the appellant's notice at the appeal court within the period the lower court directed at the hearing, or, if none, 21 days after the date of the decision (CPR 52.12). Serve a sealed copy on each respondent as soon as practicable and in any event not later than 14 days after sealing, unless the appeal court orders otherwise. Apply for an extension if you will miss 21 days; do not serve a late notice and hope. Form N161 is the ordinary appellant's notice. A stay of the order below is not automatic; if enforcement will crush the appeal, apply for a stay.

Destination of appeals

The court you appeal to is a jurisdiction question. Practice Direction 52A, Section III, Table 1 (proceedings other than family or insolvency) gives the first-appeal map. Destinations are the same whether the decision was interim or final. In outline, for ordinary civil claims:

Companies Act non-insolvency decisions of a County Court District Judge go to a High Court Judge or Registrar. Contempt has its own lines (often a Circuit Judge or the Court of Appeal). Insolvency has Table 2 (often High Court Judge or Insolvency and Companies Court Judge). Second appeals go to the Court of Appeal (with the narrow statutory exceptions PD 52A notes). File in the wrong court and PD 52A para 3.9 tells you how the error is unpicked; it is still an avoidable costs disaster.

Worked pattern: a District Judge in the County Court after a fast-track trial refuses the claimant's application to set aside. First appeal, with permission, is to a Circuit Judge, not to the Court of Appeal and not to the High Court. If the Circuit Judge dismisses that appeal, a further appeal is a second appeal to the Court of Appeal under the 52.7 test.

Grounds for appeals

An appeal is, unless a practice direction or the court otherwise provides, a review of the lower court's decision, not a fresh hearing (CPR 52.21). The appeal court will allow the appeal where the decision was:

• wrong; or
• unjust because of a serious procedural or other irregularity in the proceedings in the lower court.

"Wrong" covers error of law, a finding of fact that was not open on the evidence, and a discretion exercised outside the proper principles (had regard to irrelevant matters, ignored relevant matters, or reached a conclusion no reasonable judge could reach). It does not mean "we would have found the witness more impressive." Appellate courts are slow to interfere with case-management decisions; PD 52A para 4.6 invites the permission judge to ask whether the issue justifies the cost of an appeal. "Serious irregularity" is the fairness limb: the judge decided the claim on a point never put; a party was shut out from calling an allowed witness; apparent bias. A short, unattractive judgment is not, without more, an irregularity.

The appeal court has wide powers to affirm, set aside or vary, to order a new trial, and to make costs orders. Fresh evidence is tightly controlled (the old Ladd v Marshall discipline still informs the CPR discretion): evidence that could not have been obtained with reasonable diligence, that would probably have an important influence, and that is apparently credible. An appeal is not a second chance to run the case you wished you had run.

Obtaining information from the judgment debtor (CPR Part 71)

The SQE1 Assessment Specification for assessments from 1 September 2026 lists this topic as obtaining information from the judgment debtor, not as "oral examination." Older practitioner shorthand still uses the historic name. On the exam, use the current heading and CPR Part 71.

Part 71 lets a judgment creditor apply, without notice, for an order that the judgment debtor — or, if the debtor is a company or other corporation, an officer of that body — attend court to provide information about the debtor's means or any other matter needed to enforce the judgment (CPR 71.2). The application is issued in the court or County Court hearing centre that made the judgment, subject to transfer and Civil National Business Centre rules. A court officer may make the order without a hearing if the application notice is in order. The person served must attend, produce documents described in the order, and answer on oath. They may, within seven days of service, ask the creditor to pay reasonably sufficient travelling expenses; if asked, the creditor must pay (CPR 71.4). The creditor files an affidavit of service and of the travelling-expenses position (CPR 71.5).

The hearing may be before a court officer, who asks questions (standard questions in Practice Direction 71, plus any additional questions the judge allows). The point of the process is intelligence for enforcement: employment, bank accounts, land, vehicles, receivables. It is not a punishment hearing and it is not a cross-examination on the merits of the original claim. Failure to attend or refusal to take the oath or answer can be referred to a judge; committal is available if the prescribed service and warning conditions are met (CPR 71.8). Do not advise a client to skip the hearing because "it is only a questionnaire."

Worked pattern: you have judgment for £28,000 against a builder who would not engage. Before choosing a method, apply under Part 71. At the hearing he discloses a current account with a high balance, a van on hire-purchase, and a weekly wage. You then pick a third party debt order on the account and, if needed, an attachment of earnings application, rather than sending enforcement agents after a van the finance company owns.

Methods of enforcement of money judgments

A judgment for money does not collect itself. Practice Direction 70A para 1.1 lists the ordinary court methods. You may use more than one, and you should match the method to the asset the Part 71 hearing (or other intelligence) has identified.

Insolvency (statutory demand, bankruptcy, winding up) is a related lever listed in PD 70A as capable of affecting enforcement. It is a nuclear option: it can be disproportionate, it shares the estate with other creditors, and an SQE1 item that offers it as the first step against a solvent debtor with a known bank account is usually tempting you away from Part 72. County Court administration orders can combine small judgment debts. Interest on judgment debts is a separate entitlement; check whether High Court or County Court rates apply to the judgment you actually have.

Transfer and venue matter. A High Court judgment can be enforced in the County Court and vice versa under the Part 70 machinery; attachment of earnings is a County Court process. Enforcement against a partnership has its own PD 70A rules. If the debtor pays after you have issued, tell the court and the enforcement agent immediately — continuing to take control of goods after payment is a professional and costs disaster.

Choosing a method is functioning legal knowledge, not a branding preference:

• Bank balance known → third party debt order.
• Equity in a home, no cash → charging order (then consider an order for sale if justified).
• PAYE job, no land → attachment of earnings.
• Stock in a shop → warrant / writ of control.
• Nothing known → Part 71 first, not a random warrant.

Exam traps

• Using oral examination as the specification heading. From September 2026 the examinable label is obtaining information from the judgment debtor (CPR Part 71).
• Appealing a District Judge straight to the Court of Appeal.
• Treating a second appeal as a rerun of the 52.6 test.
• Issuing a warrant of control against a debtor whose only asset is a salary, or an attachment of earnings against a company.
• Assuming a charging order sells the house by itself.
• Treating permission to appeal as optional because "the judge was clearly wrong."