Enforcing a Civil Judgement

The Sheriff's Office is responsible for:

Court security

In co-operation with the local police, the Sheriff's Office provides court security for all Queen's Bench Court Houses and the Court of Appeal.

Jury management

The Sheriff's Office:

• summons the jury list;
• prepares the jury list;
• provides comforts such as meals and beverages for the jurors; and
• guards the jury during the trial and the jury deliberations.

For information on jury selection, see the Learning Centre.

Service of documents

When requested by clients, the Sheriff's Office can serve court documents such as statements of claim, petitions and orders. To serve a document is to deliver the document to someone in a legally required manner.

Legal remedies

The Sheriff's Office is responsible for enforcing court orders. Some of these orders have special names such as writ of execution, writ of replevin or writ of possession.

The most common court order enforced by the Sheriff's Office is a writ of execution. When a person is ordered by the court to pay someone else a sum of money, the writ of execution is the document that gives the Sheriff authority to seize and sell the goods of the judgment debtor to pay the order. Only the Sheriff's Office has the legal right to make such a seizure. Usually, before seizing any goods, the Sheriff will try to negotiate a repayment schedule between the judgment debtor and the judgment creditor.