What is an in injunction-
An order requiring a party to do/ refrain from doing a given act
You can get injunctions at trial and interim injunctions
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Types on injunction-
Two types-
Perpetual inunction
o A final injunction - continues with no limitation of time.
Interim injunction (we focus on this)
o a provisional injunction, to continue in force for a limited period (
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Injunctions can be two categories-
Mandatory
o Requires the other side to do a specific act
Prohibitory (we focus on this)
o requires the other side to refrain from doing an act.
Quia timer injunctions
o mandatory and prohibitory injunctions are also available even where no wrong has yet
been committed but has merely been threatened. This is known as a quia timet
injunction
It is possible to obtain an injunction against all public bodies including ministers and crown servants (M
v Home Office)
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Jurisdiction-
Court has power to grant interim injunctions under 25.1(1)(a)
HC has inherent jurisdictions from s37 Senior Courts Act ‘81
may be granted where it is “just and convenient” to do so.
County court jurisdiction derives from s38 County Courts Act ‘84
They can make any order the HC can
Applications for injunctions must generally be made to a Judge, rather than to a District Judge or Master.
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, Interim injunctions-
Nature of the remedy-
Equitable & discretionary
He who comes to equity must come with clean hands”, “delay defeats equity” and “equity will
not act in vain” etc
The court has a complete discretion whether to make an order for an injunction, so there is no
automatic right to an injunction.
Need for a cause of action-
You must have a pre-existing cause of action within the court’s jurisdiction.
Note, however, that this does not require the applicant to have already issued proceedings
when the application for an interim injunction is made.
The rules for freezing orders in this regard are slightly different.
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Damages must be an inadequate remedy-
Injunction will not be awarded where damages would be appropriate
Damages are inappropriate if:
The harm is serious & likely to continue
The harm is irreparable
The harm is difficult to assess/ cannot be quantified financially
The def has no means of paying damages
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Courts approach to interim injunctions-
CPR 1.2(a) - court must seek to give effect to the overriding objective when exercising its power under
the CPRs - and in considering whether it would be “just and convenient” to order the injunction - s.37(1)
Senior Courts Act ‘81.
Interim Mandatory injunctions -
A mandatory injunction will be granted if:
The applicant will suffer serious harm if it is not granted
The applicant is likely to succeed at trail
The respondent is not required to incur expenses disproportionate to the applicant’s harm
Courts are more reluctant to force parties to do something than they are to stop them from doing
something. Accordingly, interim prohibitory injunctions are far more common.
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