IDG45150 - Orders from courts: ‘Ordinary’ court orders

What is a ‘court order’?

A court order is issued by a Judge or Magistrate (or Sheriff in Scotland) and instructs a person (not necessarily an individual, could be a company or some other organisation) to do, or refrain from doing, something. Orders can be issued against persons not directly involved in a particular case and can be issued against government departments as well as others.

Court orders addressed to HMRC will generally request specific information. The order will usually ask either for the information or our records that contain the information.

How do you identify an order from court?

Any order issued by a court should be clearly marked as such. If the order requires you or anyone else to actually attend court, this is known as a witness summons (or citation in Scotland) (see IDG42200).

Procedure you must take

Orders from court must always be treated with the highest priority. It is a criminal offence to disobey a court order without good reason (‘contempt of court’). Treat orders as urgent.

You should first inform your manager that an order from court has been received. Then fax all relevant papers immediately to KAI Information Resources (see IDG90100). Telephone KAI to let them know that the papers are being sent.

You must take responsibility at the earliest stage to ensure that the court order is dealt with, even if you are not the ‘specialist’ in the area. This may mean obtaining relevant papers and documents, finding the right people to deal with the court order and seeking advice from relevant parties where appropriate, to a tight deadline.

Child Benefit Office

Within Child Benefit Office (CBO) court orders are to be sent immediately by internal post to the CBO Customer and Relations Unit (see IDG90100 for contact details).

Devolved administrations

If you receive a court order from a Scottish court please contact Sols office, Edinburgh (see IDG90100 for contact details).

This guidance applies the same for Wales and Northern Ireland.

See also