After court
This section has information about what happens after a decision has been made about your case at court.
If you won your case, there will be a judgment against the defendant. There may be a judgment against the defendant if they acknowledged your claim, did nothing to defend your claim, settled the case in your favour or lost the case after a hearing. You are called the 'judgment creditor' and the defendant is called the 'judgment debtor'.
If you lost your case, the defendant will not have to pay your claim or return the goods. The court may have ordered you to pay the defendant's legal costs. You have the option of appealing the decision, although this is not common. Before you appeal, you should get
legal advice.
Appeals and reviews
If a judicial officer such as a registrar, magistrate or assessor made a decision about your case and you are not happy with the decision, you may be able to:
- appeal the decision, or
apply for a review.
An application for a review or an appeal must be made within 28 days of the decision.
For more information, see
Appeals and reviews.
Being paid in instalments
If you won your case, this means there is a judgment in your favour. If the judgment is for an amount of money, the other party might:
For more information, see
Being paid in instalments.
Recovering goods
If you won your case and the judgment is for the return of goods, the other party might:
- return the goods as ordered
- contact you to make arrangements to return the goods
not return the goods.
If the other party does not return the goods, you may be able to take enforcement action. You can ask the court for a Writ for the Delivery of Goods which allows the Sherriff to collect the goods from the other party. For more information, see
Writ for the delivery of goods.
If you think that the goods have been lost or destroyed, you should get
legal advice.
Enforcement
If there is a judgment in your favour and the other party does nothing, you can take action to enforce the judgment.
Enforcement action includes:
- Examination Notice
- Examination Order
- Writ for the Levy of Property
- Writ for the Delivery of Goods
- Garnishee Orders
Bankruptcy.
You have up to 12 years from the date of the judgment to enforce the judgment.
For more information, see
Enforcement.
Responding to an application to set aside default judgment
If you have a default judgment, sometimes the defendant will make an application to the court to set aside (cancel) the judgment. This usually happens if the defendant says they did not receive the statement of claim or something stopped them responding to it within 28 days (for example, they were sick or overseas).
The application will usually also include an application for a stay of enforcement. A stay of enforcement (sometimes called a stay of proceedings) is an order of the court that stops you from enforcing the judgment debt for a period of time.
For more information, see
Responding to an application to set aside default judgment.