Judgment and enforcement 

A judgment (or, for some kinds of relief, an order) is the court's final determination of the rights and obligations in dispute between the parties, following trial or some other final resolution of the proceeding. Obtaining judgment, however, is not the end of the practical story for a successful plaintiff. A judgment for a sum of money is a legal entitlement to be paid; it is not, by itself, the payment. Where a judgment debtor does not pay voluntarily, the judgment creditor must use the court's enforcement mechanisms to convert the judgment into an actual recovery.

What a final judgment is

A final judgment resolves the substantive dispute — as opposed to an interlocutory order, which addresses some interim question while the proceeding continues. Once final judgment is entered, the proceeding (subject to any appeal) is at an end, and the judgment itself becomes a distinct legal instrument: an enforceable entitlement in its own right, generally carrying interest on any unpaid sum, and capable of being enforced by mechanisms separate from the original cause of action that produced it. A judgment may order the payment of a sum of money (a money judgment), or may grant other relief, such as an injunction or a declaration, which raises different enforcement questions, commonly enforced through the court's contempt powers rather than the mechanisms discussed below, which are directed at money judgments.

Why voluntary payment cannot be assumed

Litigation does not itself compel payment. Some judgment debtors pay promptly; others do not, whether from genuine inability to pay, deliberate resistance, or simple inertia. Because the court's coercive power has to be separately invoked, a judgment creditor who wants actual payment, rather than a piece of paper recording an entitlement, generally needs to take a further, distinct step: applying for one or more enforcement orders directed at the debtor's assets or income.

Writs of execution

A writ of execution (sometimes called a writ of seizure and sale, depending on the court) authorises a court officer, such as a sheriff, to seize and sell a judgment debtor's property to satisfy the judgment debt out of the proceeds. It is the most direct enforcement mechanism against tangible assets, though its practical value depends heavily on whether the debtor actually owns saleable, unencumbered property, and on the priority of any existing security interests over that property.

Garnishee orders

A garnishee order redirects a debt owed to the judgment debtor by a third party — most commonly a bank holding the debtor's account, or an employer owing wages — so that the third party pays the judgment creditor directly, up to the amount owed under the judgment, instead of paying the judgment debtor. Garnishee orders are useful precisely because they bypass the need to locate and seize physical property, targeting money the debtor is owed or holds through an identifiable third party instead.

Examination of the judgment debtor

Where a judgment creditor does not know what assets or income the debtor actually has, most courts allow the creditor to apply for an order requiring the debtor to attend and be examined — questioned, typically under oath, about their financial position, income, assets and liabilities. Examination orders exist to solve a genuine practical problem: enforcement mechanisms like writs of execution and garnishee orders are only useful if the creditor knows what to target, and a debtor has little incentive to volunteer that information otherwise.

Choosing between mechanisms, and their limits

These mechanisms are not mutually exclusive, and a creditor may need to combine them — for example, examining a debtor first to identify assets, then pursuing a writ of execution or garnishee order against what is found. All enforcement mechanisms share a common limit: they can only reach what the debtor actually has. A judgment against an impecunious debtor may remain formally valid and yet practically worthless, which is one of the reasons parties weigh the likely enforceability of a judgment, not just its likelihood of success, when deciding whether litigation is worth pursuing at all.

Applying this in a problem question

1. Confirm that a final judgment (not merely an interlocutory order) has actually been entered, and identify what it requires the debtor to do.
2. Ask whether the judgment debtor has paid voluntarily; enforcement mechanisms are only relevant once voluntary payment has not occurred.
3. If the creditor does not know what assets exist, consider whether an examination of the judgment debtor is the appropriate first step.
4. Match the enforcement mechanism to the target — a writ of execution for identifiable property, a garnishee order for money owed to the debtor by a third party.
5. Recognise the practical limit of enforcement: a valid judgment against a debtor with no recoverable assets may still go unsatisfied.