Application for Interim Enforcement Order
Where an enforcement order is an option, an application for an interim enforcement order should be filed:
- where urgent action is required
- where the emergency provision in section 330 cannot be used, and/or
- "... where the sanction and protection of Court order is desirable". [Philip Milne, Overview of the enforcement regime, Brooker's Resource Management.]
An application for interim enforcement order is made pursuant to section 320 of the RMA. Section 320 provides that the provisions of applications for enforcement orders, sections 314 to 319, apply to an application for, and determination of, an interim enforcement order, except as provided in section 320.
An application for interim enforcement order should be prepared by the lawyer acting for council. The application should be supported by evidence in the form of affidavits.
An interim enforcement order can be made by an Environment Judge or a District Court Judge without service of notice to affected parties and without a hearing.
Section 320(3) provides that before making an interim enforcement order the Judge shall consider the following factors:
- the effect of not making the order on the environment
- whether the applicant has given an appropriate undertaking as to damages
- whether the judge should hear the applicant or any person against whom the interim order is sought
- such other matters as the judge thinks fit.
The interim enforcement order stays in force until the application for an enforcement order is determined or until the order is cancelled either under section 320(5) or under section 321.
The scope of an interim enforcement order is the same as that for an enforcement order and is prescribed by section 314, refer to the explanation on application for an enforcement order on pages 17 and 18.
