Upon delivery of a Judgement, the judgement debtor, the losing party, has the option of appeal or comply with the decision of the court. Similarly, upon the delivery of judgment, the judgement creditor – the winning party – has to draw up an Entry of Judgement and serve it on the judgement debtor personally for the judgement to be enforceable.  

The Entry of Judgement drawn must contain all the relevant enforceable orders of the court. Within seven days, from the date of the service of the entry of judgement, the judgement debtor has to take practical steps to comply with the order of the court or undertake other legal steps to avoid execution or enforcement of the judgement.

After the service of the entry of Judgement on the Judgement Debtor, Judgment Creditor will be at the liberty to start execution processes to enforce the judgment of the court.

Depending on the nature of the judgement of the court, there are several ways and steps to enforce the judgment or the orders of the Court in Ghana.

ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGEMENT FOR PAYMENT OF MONEY

Judgement or order for payment of money may be enforced by one of the following means:  Writ of fieri facias; Garnishee proceeding; A charge order; Appointment of a receiver.

Writ of Fieri facias

Writ of fieri facias is used to seize and sell properties of the judgment creditor – movable or immovable - to satisfy the judgement debt together with post judgment interest until the entire debt is exhausted.

Garnishee Proceedings

Under this proceedings, the judgement creditor has to satisfy the court that another person within the jurisdiction is indebted to the judgement debtor. The will then order such person to pay such an amount to the judgement creditor in satisfaction of the judgment.  This procedure is normally used to recover money from a bank account operated by the judgement debtor within the jurisdiction of the court.

A charge order

Under this order the court may create a charge on immovable properties or interest in immovable properties of the judgement debtor to secure any money due or become due under the judgement or orders of the court.

ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGEMENT FOR POSSESSION OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTY

A writ of possession is used to enforce judgment for possession of immovable property. The successful party will then apply to court and be issue a writ of possession to legally take possession of the property.

ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGEMENT FOR DELIVERY OF GOODS

A Writ of specific delivery of goods is used when the court order for specific delivery of goods and it did not give option of the successful party recovery of the value of the assessed good. A writ of Specific delivery of Goods will be used for the benefit of the judgement creditor to take possession of the goods.

ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGEMENT TO DO OR ABSTAIN FROM DOING AN ACT

Where the court orders a person to do an act within a time specified in a judgment or order, refuses or neglects to it within the time stipulated or a person disobeys a judgement or order requiring the person to abstain from doing an act, an order of committal shall be enforced against that person or where that person is a body corporate, against any director or other officer.

Where the judgement or orders is a combination of all the above orders, the various means of enforcement can be used for specific orders till the orders of the court are carried out.  

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.