Bailiffs and enforcement agents can now obtain from the court without notice permission to enforce a writ or warrant of control by using force, outside the hours 6am to 9pm etc. Can the judgment debtor apply to set aside an order granting permission after execution and, if so, what would be their remedy if it transpired that permission should never have been granted because it was based on false evidence?
Where the CPR permit an application to be made without notice it is likely that the enforcement agent will seek to take advantage of that provision on the basis that advance notice to the judgment debtor will frustrate the intended enforcement action. District judges will be slow to make an order in these circumstances without strong evidence of the necessary grounds that need to be made out. If it transpires that a without notice order was made on false or misleading evidence it could be set aside, on application, and the consequences undone as soon as possible. Whether the judgment debtor could prove any loss for which compensation could be recovered is another matter. Certainly, the
