Short answer. A certified copy of the judgment is served on the tribunal, agency, corporation, board, officer, or person concerned, in whatever manner the court directs, and disobeying that judgment is punished as contempt of court. Execution may also issue to enforce any damages or costs the judgment awarded under Section 1 of Rule 39.

What the law says

A certified copy of the judgment rendered in accordance with the last preceding section shall be served upon the court, quasi-judicial agency, tribunal, corporation, board, officer or person concerned in such manner as the court may direct, and disobedience thereto shall be punished as contempt. An execution may issue for any damages or costs awarded in accordance with section 1 of Rule 39.

Rule 65, Section 9 — Service and enforcement of order or judgment. Read the full provision →

Getting the judgment to the right party

Once a certiorari judgment is rendered, a certified copy must be served on the court, quasi-judicial agency, tribunal, corporation, board, officer, or person concerned, in whatever manner the court directs. This formal service step is what puts the respondent officially on notice of what the judgment requires them to do, and it applies broadly enough to cover not just courts and individual officers but also agencies, tribunals, corporations, and boards, since a certiorari petition can be directed at any of these depending on who exercised the challenged discretion. Because the manner of service is left to the court's direction rather than fixed by a single rigid method, the court can adapt service to whatever will most reliably reach the particular respondent involved in a given case.

Disobedience is contempt

If the respondent disobeys the judgment after that certified copy is served, the disobedience is punished as contempt of court, the same as disobedience of any other court order. This gives the certiorari judgment real teeth: a public official who simply ignores it is not just failing to comply with an abstract directive, but exposing themselves to contempt proceedings that can carry their own separate penalties, on top of whatever the underlying judgment already required them to do.

Recovering damages or costs

Separately from the contempt remedy, if the judgment awarded damages or costs, execution may issue to enforce that award in accordance with Section 1 of Rule 39. This means the petitioner is not limited to watching the respondent be held in contempt; any monetary component of the judgment can be collected through the ordinary execution process, the same process used to enforce money judgments generally, giving the petitioner a concrete way to actually recover what the judgment awarded.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.