Who may apply, to which court, and within what period, for exemption from execution of a judgment ordering payment of court costs?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In the practice file we would read the judgment that orders the applicant to bear court costs, since the provision only reaches a person who received such a judgment, the record showing when it became final, and any proof of the applicant's income or circumstances offered to show poverty and inability to pay in full.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision as written: the person against whom a judgment ordering payment of court costs has been made, who is poor and cannot pay that judgment in full, may apply to the court that pronounced the judgment for exemption from its execution, in whole or in part, within the period the provision sets after the judgment becomes final.
Another reading notes what the provision does not supply: it requires the applicant to be poor and unable to pay in full, but defines neither poverty nor the proof that shows it, and it names the court that pronounced the judgment as the body to apply to, leaving open how an application is treated where enforcement is pursued elsewhere.
Your judgment
What in the file could show that the applicant is poor and cannot pay the court costs in full?
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 change who may apply, the body applied to or the period set, or if a court decision defines poverty or the proof an application for exemption must carry.