Short answer. The court's arsenal is broad. Under Rule 29, Section 3, it may take the disputed facts as established in your favour, bar the disobedient party from supporting claims or introducing evidence, strike pleadings, stay the proceedings, dismiss the action, render a judgment by default — or even order the arrest of the disobedient party.
What the law says
the court may make such orders in regard to the refusal as are just
Rule 29, Section 3 — Other consequences. Read the full provision →
What the law says
An order striking out pleadings or parts thereof, or staying further proceedings until the order is obeyed, or dismissing the action or proceeding or any part thereof, or rendering a judgment by default against the disobedient party
Rule 29, Section 3 — Other consequences. Read the full provision →
What conduct triggers the section
The section addresses a party — or an officer or managing agent of a party — who refuses to obey a court order in discovery: an order to answer designated questions, an order under Rule 27 to produce any document or other thing for inspection, copying, or photographing or to permit entry upon land, or an order under Rule 28 to submit to a physical or mental examination. The trigger is defiance of an existing order. Once that line is crossed, the court may make such orders in regard to the refusal as are just — and the section then lists just how far those orders can go.
Sanctions that decide the facts against the refuser
The first two options strike at the disobedient party's case rather than the party personally. The court may order that the matters covered by the refused discovery shall be taken to be established for the purposes of the action in accordance with the claim of the party obtaining the order — the refuser loses the very factual dispute the evidence would have settled. Alternatively, the court may refuse to let the disobedient party support or oppose designated claims or defenses, or prohibit them from introducing designated documents, things or testimony. Concealment, in short, is answered by treating the concealed point as conceded.
Sanctions that end the case, and the arrest power
The heavier artillery follows: An order striking out pleadings or parts thereof, or staying further proceedings until the order is obeyed, or dismissing the action or proceeding or any part thereof, or rendering a judgment by default against the disobedient party. Defiance can therefore cost a plaintiff the case or hand one to the other side outright. And beyond all of these, in lieu of any of the foregoing orders or in addition thereto, the court may direct the arrest of any party or agent of a party for the disobedience — with one carve-out: arrest is not available for refusing a physical or mental examination.
Using the section from the requesting side
The section's phrase as are just means the court fits the sanction to the disobedience, so your task is to put the defiance clearly on record: the order that was issued, what it required, and precisely how compliance was refused. Then ask for the sanction that matches what the withheld evidence would have proved — often the establishment of those very facts in your favour is both the most proportionate remedy and the most damaging to the refuser. Counsel can calibrate the request; courts are readier to grant a sanction shaped to the harm than a plea for the maximum.