Chris Bryden & Clara Parry discuss the rare use of passport orders to prevent someone leaving the country—and how these orders are enforced
- Under s 37(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, the court can grant a passport order to prevent a judgment debtor from leaving the jurisdiction. This is to enable enforcement remedies to be pursued.
- The court will order such an interference with a respondent’s liberty only if it is reasonable and proportionate to do so.
- In Lakatamia Shipping Company Ltd and others v Su and others [2021] EWCA Civ 1187, the Court of Appeal made general observations regarding the court’s passport jurisdiction.
Where a judgment debt becomes due, or the debtor has failed to pay an instalment as ordered, a variety of enforcement methods become available to recover that debt. However, in some cases, notably where there are hidden assets or the judgment debtor is a non-resident of the jurisdiction, the common enforcement methods—such as charging orders, attachment of earnings, third-party debt orders or freezing injunctions—may not be effective. In rare cases,
