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Final consent orders can be enforced without the need to lift a stay of proceedings or issuing a fresh claim
04 January 2012
As those involved in litigation will be aware, claims are often brought to a conclusion by a Tomlin order. This is an order that has two parts. The first officially disposes of the Court claim by (usually) staying the claim and dealing with the issue of costs. The second part records the terms of settlement between the parties. Under the part that stays that claim, this often contains a provision, such as "The claim be stayed save that that parties have liberty to apply for the purpose of brining the terms hereof into effect.".
On 19th December 2011 the High Court dealt with the question of whether, if a party tried to go behind a Tomlin order, it would need to lift the stay or hear fresh proceedings to deal with the matter. The Court decided that this was not the case. It held that a party to such an order was entitled to apply for summary relief under the order, without the need for the stay to be lifted, or new proceedings to be commenced.
Starlight Shipping Co -v- Allianz Marine & Aviation and others [2011] EWHC 3381 (Comm)
Should you wish to discuss any element of litigation with which you may require assistance, either as a Claimant or a Defendant, please do not hesitate to contact our Litigation Team for a free exploratory conversation by telephone.
Andrew Petchey, Partner, Litigation Team, Howell Jones solicitors
