Civil stand-down period

Once your judgment order has been made, there is a stand-down period of 48 hours (2 full working days) before you can make some enforcement applications. The 48 hours start from the day after the order was made.

When the stand-down period does not apply

The district court judge or other judicial officer can waive this 48 hour stand-down period during the hearing or when making the order.

If the judge or judicial officer has decided that the debtor should have a longer time to pay the debt, you cannot make enforcement applications until that time has passed.

These applications are not affected by the stand-down period:

Help working out when you can enforce your order

This table shows the day of the week you can apply for enforcement based on the day the judgment order is made.

Day judgment order is madeDay you can make an enforcement application
Monday Thursday
Tuesday Friday
Wednesday Monday
Thursday Tuesday
Friday Wednesday

Judgment orders also cannot be enforced from 25 December to 15 January.

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