As a Debt Recovery Lawyer with 10 years of experience; the "scariest" method to enforce a judgment/debt isn't bankruptcy, winding up, garnishee or seizure and sale.
Bankruptcy/winding up, garnishee, seizure and sale are all effective methods of enforcement but the scariest one has gotta be:
A Judgment Debtor Summons (JDS).
Why? Let me explain.
On paper, it sounds kinda harmless - it's an enforcement procedure that compels a debtor to attend court and explain his/her/its financial position.
Once the financial position is established, the court may then make an order to compel the debtor to make payment(s), whether in lump sum or installments.
The scary part is not the financial examination. Rather, it is a little provision called Section 6 of the Debtors Act 1957 which states:
"If the judgment debtor makes default in payment according to any such order,... the court may commit him to the civil prison for a term which may extend to six weeks or until earlier payment of any instalment or instalments or other sum due."
In the simplest of terms; this means that if you fail to adhere to a payment order pursuant to a JDS; you. can. go. to. jail. for. up. to. 6. weeks.
Granted, in my 10 year career I have not yet successfully jailed a single judgment debtor. Because all of them have magically discovered ways to come up with money as soon as I filed an application to commit (jail).
Some of my clients think I am scary but obviously not as scary as 6 weeks of nasi kari and soap dropping shenanigans.
Rudi Cheu (rudi@rulecolaw.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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