In an enforcement case, which service or notice may be dispensed with if the debtor is abroad or the debtor's whereabouts are unclear?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
For this exercise, the papers to read are the application for enforcement and the document whose service would be omitted, any postal return or failed delivery record for the debtor's last known address, and any paper in the file showing a foreign address or a search for the debtor.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the permission at face value: where the debtor is abroad or where the debtor is cannot be clearly established, service or notice belonging to an execution act need not be carried out, so the execution acts can proceed without those steps.
Another reading notes the limits. The provision says such service or notice need not be done, without naming anyone who decides the point or setting any test for what shows a debtor's whereabouts to be unclear, and it reaches only service or notice that belongs to an execution act.
Your judgment
What in the file would be enough to show that the debtor's whereabouts are unclear?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to set a standard of proof for a debtor's unclear whereabouts or to say who decides it, or if a court decision explains what a debtor abroad or unlocatable must be shown on.