Penal Notice

A penal notice is a warning endorsed on a court order stating that failure to comply may result in committal to prison, a fine, or seizure of assets. It must be prominently displayed on the face of the order to be enforceable. Without a penal notice, an order requiring a person to do or abstain from doing an act cannot generally be enforced by committal proceedings.

In practice

Penal notices must be served personally on the person required to comply, together with the order itself. The wording must clearly state the consequences of non-compliance. If the original order was made without a penal notice, an application can be made to have one endorsed before committal proceedings are brought under CPR Part 81.