This chapter is concerned with court orders made prior to final judgment, and with enforcement of final judgments. These are matters of civil procedure. They do not deal with final determinations of rights and are not remedies in the technical sense. Rather, they protect the ability of the court to award remedies.

First, if there is a dispute over certain subject matter, it is important that the subject matter of the dispute be maintained until the court can adjudicate the dispute. This is where interlocutory remedies and pre-judgment remedies are relevant. These remedies are awarded before the court makes a final determination of the proceedings and are generally intended to maintain the status quo pending the decision. Such remedies include interlocutory injunctions, which restrain or compel a person to do a particular thing. There are other pre-judgment remedies, such as freezing orders and search orders, which prevent the defendant from removing property from the jurisdiction or from destroying evidence before proceedings can be brought. These ensure that proceedings are not nugatory.

Secondly, after final judgment has been handed down, there must be a means of ensuring that the judgment debtor does what the court has ordered; otherwise the judgment lacks ‘teeth’. Courts have coercive mechanisms which ensure that a defendant complies with an order to pay damages or an order of specific relief.