Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

Section IV   Seizure by garnishment

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   479.   Execution upon the movable effects of a debtor which are in the possession of a third party, may, in all cases, and must, when such third party does not consent to their immediate seizure, be effected by means of seizure by garnishment.

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   The same means must be adopted in executing upon debts due to the debtor other than those mentioned in article 434.

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   480.   Seizure by garnishment is made by means of a writ issuing from the Court which rendered the judgment, ordering the garnishees not to dispossess themselves of the movable effects belonging to the debtor which are in their possession, nor of such monies or other things as they owe him or her or will have to pay him or her, until the Court has pronounced upon the matter, and to appear on the day mentioned in the writ, to declare under oath what effects they have belonging to the debtor, and what sums of money or other things they owe him or her or will have to pay him or her.

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   481.   This writ also summons the debtor to show cause why the seizure should not be declared valid, and mentions the date and amount of the judgment in satisfaction of which it is issued; and is moreover clothed with the formalities of ordinary writs of summons.

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   482.   The delay of service is 8 days. The other rules concerning the service of ordinary writs of summons apply to seizures by garnishment.

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   Nevertheless, the garnishee cannot be condemned by default unless the writ of summons or other order to appear has been served upon him or her personally.

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   Upon satisfactory proof that a garnishee conceals himself or herself in order to avoid such personal service, service at his or her domicile is held to be sufficient.

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   If the defendant upon the principal demand has been summoned as an absentee, the summons upon the garnishment may be served upon him or her at the Registrar's office, but if he or she did not leave Saint Lucia until after service of the principal demand, he or she must be summoned upon the garnishment according to the provisions of article 66, unless the Judge order substituted service.

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   The defendant is bound to answer the proceedings by garnishment within the same delays as upon a principal demand.

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   483.   The effect of seizure by garnishment is to place the effects and debts of which the garnishee is debtor, under judicial control, and to sequestrate in his or her hands all corporeal things, in the same manner as if he or she had been specially appointed guardian.

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   484.   The garnishee is bound to make his or her declaration before the Registrar, who is authorised to administer to him or her the necessary oath.

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   When a seizure by garnishment is made in the hands of a corporation, the declaration is made by an attorney authorised in the same manner as for answering interrogatories, as provided in article 208.

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   485.   The garnishee's declaration must be made on the day appointed by writ, or on the next following juridical day.

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   It may be made at any time before the return day, at the Registrar's office, but in such case it cannot be received unless it is accompanied with the Sheriff's return, certifying that previous notice of at least 24 hours has been given to the plaintiff of the garnisher's intention to make his or her declaration before the return of his or her writ. But the Court or Judge may grant the garnishee a further delay to make his or her declaration.

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   486.   The garnishee must declare in what he or she was indebted at the time of the service of the writ upon him or her, in what he or she has become indebted since that time, the cause of debt, and any other seizures made in his or her hand.

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   If the debt is not yet payable, he or she must declare when it will be.

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   If his or her indebtedness is conditional or suspended by any hindrance, he or she must also declare it.

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   He or she must furnish a detailed statement of the movable effects in his or her possession, belonging to the debtor, and declare by what title he or she holds them.

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   The judgment creditor may be present when the garnishee makes his or her declaration, and to put to him or her any questions tending to prove any obligation of the garnishee towards the judgment debtor, saving all objections which a Judge, if present, may decide at once, or which, otherwise, the Registrar must note down for subsequent decision thereon by the Court.

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   487.   The garnishee is entitled to his or her expenses, which must be taxed by the Judge or by the Registrar, and he or she may retain the amount thereof out of the sums in which he or she is indebted; and, if he or she owes nothing, such taxation may be enforced against the party suing out the writ, by execution.

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   488.   If the garnishee declares that he or she is indebted to the judgment debtor, or has movables in his or her care or custody belonging to him or her, or if upon the contestation of the declaration it be adjudged that the garnishee is indebted or has movables in his or her care belonging to the judgment debtor, the garnishee must pay the amount he or she has acknowledged to owe or has been condemned to pay, as the case may be, into Court upon a receivable order on account of or to the extent of his or her debt.

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   If the garnishee is only bound to pay upon a future day, the Court condemns him or her to pay on that day.

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   The judgment against the garnishee must be served upon him or her. The delay for execution in default of payment by the garnishee is 15 days after the service of the judgment.

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   489.   The amount paid into Court is distributed among the creditors, as in sales of execution against movables.

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   490.   If the monies or other things due by the garnishee are only payable at a future time, he or she may be condemned to pay them when such time arrives, and if they are due under conditions which are not yet fulfilled, the Court may, upon motion of the seizing party, maintain the seizure until such conditions are fulfilled.

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   491.   Garnishers who do not make their declaration in the manner hereinabove prescribed are condemned as personal debtors of the seizing party, to the payment of his or her claim.

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   They may, however, obtain leave to make their declaration at any time, even after judgment, upon payment of all costs incurred upon the seizure.

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   492.   The seizing party must declare within 8 days whether he or she intends contesting the garnishee's declaration, unless a further delay be granted to him or her by the Court or Judge, and he or she must at the same time file his or her grounds of contestation, after serving them upon the garnishee. The latter to answer the same within 8 days.

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   He or she cannot, however, forfeit his or her right to contest without an order of the Court to that effect.

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   493.   In other respects, contestations of garnishee's declarations are subject to the same rules as those of ordinary suits.

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   494.   Besides the things enumerated in articles 427 and 428, the following are also exempt from seizure:

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   Pay and pensions of person belonging to the Army or to the Navy;

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   The salary of school teachers and wages of artisans and labourers.

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   495.   If a garnishee declares that he or she has in his or her possession movable effects, negotiable paper, or titles of debt payable to bearer, the judgment orders that they shall be sold, and the garnishee is bound to deliver them to the Sheriff.

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   496.   The proceeds of such movable effects are afterwards distributed in the same manner as other monies levied under execution against movables.

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   497.   If a garnishee declares that he or she is not indebted, and he or she cannot be proved to be so, the Court orders him or her to be discharged from the seizure, and condemns the seizing party to pay the costs.