Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

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Key definition

Tomlin order definition

What does Tomlin order mean? A Tomlin order is a settlement device used in civil litigation: the court stays the proceedings on agreed terms, giving the parties liberty to apply to lift the stay and enforce the settlement if there is default. The operative order records only the stay and liberty to apply; the detailed terms are set out in a separate, usually confidential, schedule. The schedule is contractual. It can include matters beyond the pleaded issues, and is not part of the order or the public court file. The concept is derived from English case law and practice rather than statute. In England and...

Tomlin orders in England and Wales: comparative court requirements on form, filing, scrutiny of settlement terms and file inspection

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Practice notes

This Practice Note outlines and contrasts how different courts handle the lodging of draft tomlin orders and the approval of such orders by consent once a dispute in existing proceedings has been resolved and the parties seek a stay pending fulfilment of the agreed terms. It explains the required format of the document submitted to the court, the manner of filing, and the position after the court makes an order. It also draws the line between those courts (a minority) that scrutinise the parties’ agreed provisions for enforceability and the majority that will not examine that question but will ensure the order is cast in the correct form to permit a Tomlin order. Lastly, it considers what materials are retained on the court file once an order has been made. Guidance is given on the form to use, the route for submission, and the immediate administrative consequences once the court makes the consent order in practice.

Making Tomlin orders

In 1927, Tomlin J, a judge of the High Court, issued a practice note following a decision he had reached in a case in which the proceedings were to be kept alive solely so that agreed terms could be enforced in...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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