Court order breached

[Deltic Bouy]

I have been taking a legal matter through the small claims court track and following several failures by the other party to comply and spending lots of money going back and forth to the court at the last court hearing a specific order was made however the the other party has failed to comply to meet their obligation by the terms of the order 2 months running.
I spoke to the Citizens Advice Bureau and they advised I write to the court to advise of the failure to comply, it was them that said not to actually bother going to the court until there had been more than 2 breaches.
The Judge's response to my letter was to tell me to get legal advice from a solicitor or CAB. The reason I have not been paying a solicitor is because I cannot afford such expense, but it is my belief I have a right to go to court unrepresented to address legal matters.
Is the Judge being unreasonable here and if so how would I complain about this? Or is the Judge hinting that there is a specific protocol to follow such as specific forms I need to submit to report a breach of a court order?
I thought that a Judge would not like a party who was ignoring their orders and my googling suggests that breach of a court order, even one made in the small claims court is considered a contempt of court and as such becomes a criminal offence.
Anyone give me any ideas how I deal with this? Is there a form that the Judge is trying to stay neutral and not give legal advice upon here or is it just a case that courts are biased against those that take matters to court without paid representation?

[pt2537]

I have been taking a legal matter through the small claims court track and following several failures by the other party to comply and spending lots of money going back and forth to the court at the last court hearing a specific order was made however the the other party has failed to comply to meet their obligation by the terms of the order 2 months running.
I spoke to the Citizens Advice Bureau and they advised I write to the court to advise of the failure to comply, it was them that said not to actually bother going to the court until there had been more than 2 breaches.
The Judge's response to my letter was to tell me to get legal advice from a solicitor or CAB. The reason I have not been paying a solicitor is because I cannot afford such expense, but it is my belief I have a right to go to court unrepresented to address legal matters.
Is the Judge being unreasonable here and if so how would I complain about this? Or is the Judge hinting that there is a specific protocol to follow such as specific forms I need to submit to report a breach of a court order?
I thought that a Judge would not like a party who was ignoring their orders and my googling suggests that breach of a court order, even one made in the small claims court is considered a contempt of court and as such becomes a criminal offence.
Anyone give me any ideas how I deal with this? Is there a form that the Judge is trying to stay neutral and not give legal advice upon here or is it just a case that courts are biased against those that take matters to court without paid representation?

Hi there,

It would be helpful to know a little more about the case. Contempt of court can lead to custodial sentences being handed out, so its very very serious. Id say that much depends on the wording of the order that has been breached, for example if the Court ordered someone to file a directions questionnaire and they didnt, i doubt they would end up in prison, although they would have disobeyed a court order all the same, equally if the Court ordered a sum of money to be paid and they didnt, again the Court isnt sending them to prison anytime soon.

It may be the judge is steering you to legal advice because you may need to make a formal application etc to the Court, but we cannot know for sure with the limited info above

[Deltic Bouy]

Hi there,

It would be helpful to know a little more about the case. Contempt of court can lead to custodial sentences being handed out, so its very very serious. Id say that much depends on the wording of the order that has been breached, for example if the Court ordered someone to file a directions questionnaire and they didnt, i doubt they would end up in prison, although they would have disobeyed a court order all the same, equally if the Court ordered a sum of money to be paid and they didnt, again the Court isnt sending them to prison anytime soon.

It may be the judge is steering you to legal advice because you may need to make a formal application etc to the Court, but we cannot know for sure with the limited info above

Hi
The order made was that a former partner made available my dog which she took when she left for a neighbour to collect so I could have time with my dog but on the first 2 occasions this was due she wasn't home so couldn't be collected though within an hour of the last time she was walking my dog past my home as if to rub my nose in the fact.
I should point out that I have tried to be reasonable about the dog, she was given to me by My Daughter but as we had lived with us together for 3 years I wanted to share ownership and time with the dog and initially a mediated agreement was reached after I took the matter to court however over the next year my ex partner kept breaking this so I was forced to go back to court and obtain a court order however this has also been breached by my ex refusing to comply with the order of the court.
The court at the first hearing acknowledged that a Dog is a chattel so shouldn't have been removed nor should she have been taken as she was a gift to me but acknowledged my initial point that she was like our Child and chose to make a contact order and we agreed to mediation to arrange the details of this but clearly my Ex has absolutely no regard for the court and it's orders has as been shown by the ignoring this latest court order.
I have tried writing to the court to advise of the breaches but all they tell me to do is seek legal advice.
Thanks

[pt2537]

Id have thought an application to the Court to enforce the order would be the right way forward

[Deltic Bouy]

Id have thought an application to the Court to enforce the order would be the right way forward

Many thanks for your help here, is there an official form I need to complete to do this or as was advised by CAB to write to the court the way to approach this correctly?

[pt2537]

Many thanks for your help here, is there an official form I need to complete to do this or as was advised by CAB to write to the court the way to approach this correctly?

An N244 application would probably be the best option

[Deltic Bouy]

An N244 application would probably be the best option

So another £255 cost?
I had to submit a N244 and pay the above last time to bring the fact she wasn't adhering to the original mediated agreement, seems to be a money printing process for the courts.
I know I can try asking for her to pay the costs but the last time I did that the court disagreed that she should pay
Starting to look more and more that you can only have justice is you can afford to pay for it which to my layman way of thinking is in itself unjust.

[pt2537]

So another £255 cost?
I had to submit a N244 and pay the above last time to bring the fact she wasn't adhering to the original mediated agreement, seems to be a money printing process for the courts.
I know I can try asking for her to pay the costs but the last time I did that the court disagreed that she should pay
Starting to look more and more that you can only have justice is you can afford to pay for it which to my layman way of thinking is in itself unjust.

If you succeed you should be allowed the costs, at least the £255, that should go back to you as its the othersides errors that caused the need for an application.

However, i cannot see any way you can enforce the order without having an application, sorry, but the Court will not enforce an order without an application.

[Deltic Bouy]

Thanks for your advice PT, guess I better get saving up, you will forgive my retinence that I will get my costs back even after her failure to agree to the mediated agreements which all failed because of her the court would not enforce repayment of the £255 I had to pay for this last time.
Unfortunately here in North Wales the courts and inparticular this Judge show a very unfair bias especially against those that dare to go to court as Litigant in Person.