interim injunction

The general rule in English legal proceedings is that injunctions are made by courts at the end of legal proceedings, that is to say, after the final hearing. The final hearing in litigation, otherwise known as the trial, is the occasion before the court where each of the parties present their respective cases after having conducted the interim processes of disclosure, filing of evidence and other pre-trial steps. Applications for interim injunctions are an exception to this general rule, whereby the claimant applies for an injunction for the purposes of preserving evidence or assets pending the trial. As such, interim injunctions are applied for at commencement of legal proceedings, without a full examination by the court of the facts said to justify a final injunction.

The advantages of obtaining an interim injunction at the commencement of proceedings include (1) that fact that the defendant does not know an application for court orders is being made, and (2) the first the defendant hears about the application is when he receives the order to do something to correct his allegedly wrongful actions.

Interim injunctions are enforceable by a charge for contempt of court if the respondent fails to comply with the terms of the order. Such orders (1) avoid malicious and/or spiteful damage to assets covered by the interim injunction that might otherwise take place during the usual notice period, (2) stop the respondent tampering with evidence, and (3) may require the respondent to deliver up passwords, source code and other electronic assets as may be reasonably justified in the case at hand.

Courts maintain a discretion to make such orders. As the respondent is not represented before the Court on the initial application, the applicant for the injunction is required to include evidence and materials to provide the court full and frank disclosure of all matters within the knowledge of the applicant that may affect the exercise of the Court’s discretion to make the award and inform of the Court of grounds upon which the defendant may be entitled to defend itself.

Usage: The claimant applied to the court for an interim injunction to search the premises of the defendant and to freeze the assets of the defendant at the commencement of the litigation.

Related Words: final hearing; court order; injunction; litigation.