Legal Definitions - Mandatory Injunction

A Mandatory Injunction is a specific type of court order that compels a person or entity to perform a particular action. Unlike a prohibitory injunction, which forbids someone from doing something, a mandatory injunction requires them to actively do something to correct a wrong or undo harm that has already occurred.

Courts typically issue mandatory injunctions in exceptional circumstances where a party's rights have been clearly violated, and other legal remedies, such as monetary compensation, would not adequately address the harm. While usually granted after a full trial, a court may issue a temporary mandatory injunction in urgent situations involving undeniable and intentional misconduct, provided the requesting party presents a very strong case. When issuing such an order, the court aims to craft it to be as fair and least burdensome as possible while still effectively protecting the rights of the wronged party.

Here are some examples of how a mandatory injunction might be applied:

• Property Encroachment: Imagine a homeowner, without permission, constructs a new fence that clearly extends several feet onto their neighbor's property. The neighbor asks them to move it, but they refuse.

  In this situation, a court could issue a mandatory injunction ordering the homeowner to dismantle and relocate the fence so that it no longer encroaches on the neighbor's land. This order compels an active step to undo the physical trespass and restore the neighbor's property rights.

• Restoration of Shared Resources: Consider a situation where two businesses share a critical access road, and one business intentionally blocks off a section of the road, preventing the other from receiving deliveries or customer access.

  A court might issue a mandatory injunction compelling the business that erected the barrier to immediately remove it and restore full, unobstructed access to the shared road for the other business. This action is required to rectify the harm caused by the wrongful obstruction.

• Reinstatement of Services: Suppose a utility company wrongfully disconnects a customer's essential service, like water or electricity, despite the customer having paid all their bills and having a valid service agreement.

  A court could issue a mandatory injunction ordering the utility company to immediately restore the customer's service. This requires the company to take a positive action to undo the wrongful disconnection and reinstate the customer's contractual rights.