Courts must add interest to pecuniary judgments, with special rules for special damages, limited exceptions, and postjudgment interest rules.
Court Order Interest Act 79 1996 781755088/96079/177026608 E2tlc96079 1 Prejudgment Interest Court order interest 1 1 Subject to section 2, a court must add to a pecuniary judgment an amount of interest calculated on the amount ordered to be paid at a rate the court considers appropriate in the circumstances from the date on which the cause of action arose to the date of the order. 2 Despite subsection (1), if the order consists in whole or part of special damages, the interest on those damages must be calculated from the end of each 6 month period in which the special damages were incurred to the date of the order on the total of the special damages incurred a in the 6 month period immediately following the date on which the cause of action arose, and b in any subsequent 6 month period. 3 For the purpose of calculating interest under subsection (2), and despite subsection (2), if the date of the order occurs a before a date 6 months after the date on which the cause of action arose, or b after the end of a 6 month period but before the end of the subsequent 6 month period, interest must be calculated from the date on which the special damages were incurred to the date of the order. 4 If part of an order represents income loss arising from personal injury or death and one or more payments have been made before the date of the order to replace, provide indemnification for, compensate for or protect against some or all of the income loss or for any other purpose related to the income loss, the amount of the income loss on which interest may be calculated under this section must be reduced by the amount of each such payment as of the date of the receipt of the payment. Interest not awarded in certain cases 2 The court must not award interest under section 1 a on that part of an order that represents pecuniary loss arising after the date of the order, b if there is an agreement about interest between the parties, c on interest or on costs, d if the creditor waives in writing the right to an award of interest, or e on that part of an order that represents nonpecuniary damages arising from personal injury or death. Default order 3 If an order is obtained by default under an Act or the Supreme Court Civil Rules, the registrar of the court may exercise and carry out the powers and duties of the court under this Part. Payment into court 4 If a party pays money into court in satisfaction of a claim and another party does not accept the payment and obtains an order for an amount equal to or less than that paid into court, the court must, despite section 1, award interest only as if the date of payment into court had been the date of the order. Interest included in judgment 5 Interest added to an order for payment under this Part must be included in the order for enforcement purposes. Effective date 6 This Part does not apply to a cause of action that arose before June 1, 1974. 2 Postjudgment Interest Interest rate 7 1 In this section, interest rate means an annual simple interest rate that is equal to the prime lending rate of the banker to the government. 2 A pecuniary judgment bears simple interest from the later of the date the judgment is pronounced or the date money is payable under the judgment. 3 During the first 6 months of a year interest must be calculated at the interest rate as at January 1. 4 During the last 6 months of a year interest must be calculated at the interest rate as at July 1. 5 Despite subsection (2), interest in respect of a judgment pronounced before April 1, 1992 must be calculated from the later of that date or the date the money is payable under the judgment. Court may vary rate 8 If the court of original jurisdiction considers it appropriate, it may, on the application of a person affected by or interested in a judgment, vary the rate of interest applicable under section 7 or set a different date from which interest must be calculated. Interest deemed to be included in judgment 9 1 Interest under this Part is deemed to be included in the judgment for enforcement purposes. 2 A partial payment of a judgment must be applied first to outstanding interest owed on the judgment.