The court orders the defendant to pay the claimant a certain sum of money


As its name implies, the court order communicates the fact of the judgment and orders the defendant to pay the claimant a specified sum. This will be the amount decided by the judge, which may or may not be the amount of the original claim, plus interest if it has been properly claimed, up to the date of the judgment.

The terms 'defendant' and 'claimant' may from the point that judgment is granted be replaced by 'judgment debtor' and 'judgment creditor'. The word judgment means that payment has been ordered and a debtor is a person (or legal entity) that owes money.

A creditor is a person (or legal entity) who is owed money. The terms defendant and claimant are still sometimes used throughout this article and the next one, but in many cases the other words are interchangeable.

The court order may be for immediate payment, or it may be for payment by instalments or at a specified future date. This step can also be taken by the defendant after the case has been lost and judgment awarded. Either the claimant or the defendant can apply later to have the order to pay by instalments or at a future date varied. This might be done, for example, if the defendant's circumstances change.

The defendant must make immediate payment or must exactly comply with the terms of the order. If he fails to do so, even if the failure to comply is marginal, the claimant can take enforcement measures. So long as the defendant does exactly comply with the order, the claimant cannot do this. If immediate payment after judgment is not made, the claimant may be entitled to continuing interest.

The rules are:

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