What Is CCP 525? California’s Injunction Law, Bonds, and Penalties

California Code of Civil Procedure Section 525 defines an injunction as a court order that requires a person to refrain from a particular act. The statute is a single sentence, but it opens the chapter of California law that governs when courts can issue these orders, what standards apply, and what happens when someone ignores one. Because injunctions prevent future harm rather than compensate for past losses, they fill a gap money damages cannot close.

What the Statute Actually Says

The full text of CCP 525 reads: an injunction is “a writ or order requiring a person to refrain from a particular act.” It may be granted by the court hearing the case or by a judge individually, and when a judge grants it the order is enforceable as though the full court issued it.¹ By its literal language, the statute describes only prohibitory injunctions, meaning orders that tell someone to stop.

California courts recognize a broader category. The California Supreme Court has acknowledged that while CCP 525 uses the narrow sense of “restraining” someone, the term “injunction” in broader legal usage covers orders that either command or prevent an action. Courts regularly issue mandatory injunctions that compel a party to take an affirmative step, such as tearing down an encroaching structure or restoring a diverted water source. The distinction between prohibitory and mandatory injunctions matters most on appeal, where different rules govern whether the order stays in effect while the case is being reviewed.

When a California Court Will Grant an Injunction

CCP 526 lists seven situations where a court may issue an injunction. If your situation doesn’t fit at least one of them, the court won’t grant the order no matter how strong your case feels.

The facts alleged in the complaint show the plaintiff deserves relief, and that relief involves stopping the complained-of conduct.
Allowing the conduct to continue during the lawsuit would cause waste or serious, irreparable injury.
A party is doing, or threatening to do, something that violates the other party’s rights and would render the eventual judgment meaningless.
Financial compensation would not adequately address the harm.
The harm is real, but calculating a dollar amount would be extremely difficult.
The injunction would prevent multiple separate lawsuits over the same ongoing conduct.
The duty to act arises from a trust relationship.

The fourth and fifth grounds are where most injunction fights happen. Courts consistently hold that injunctions are equitable relief, available only when the legal remedy of money falls short. If you can be made whole with a check, expect the court to deny the request.²

The Three Types of Injunctions

California recognizes three types, distinguished by when they are issued and how long they last.

Temporary Restraining Order

A TRO is an emergency measure. It can be issued before the opposing side even knows about the request, but only if two conditions are met. The applicant must show through sworn statements that serious or irreparable harm will occur before a proper hearing can be scheduled, and the applicant’s attorney must certify under oath that they either notified the opposing party about the request, tried and failed to do so, or have specific reasons why notification should not be required.³

A TRO issued without notice expires quickly. The court must schedule a hearing on a preliminary injunction no later than 15 days after issuing the TRO, or 22 days if good cause exists for the extension. If the party who obtained the TRO isn’t ready to proceed at that hearing, or failed to serve the required paperwork, the court dissolves it.³

Preliminary Injunction

A preliminary injunction cannot be granted without notice to the opposing party. Both sides present evidence, and the order stays in effect throughout the litigation until a final judgment resolves the case.³ California uses a two-part balancing test: the court evaluates the likelihood that the requesting party will prevail on the merits at trial, and weighs the interim harm to each side if the order is granted or denied. The factors work as a sliding scale, so a strong showing on the merits can compensate for a closer call on the balance of harms.

Permanent Injunction

A permanent injunction comes only after a final judgment on the merits. It is the court’s definitive resolution of the dispute, ordering a party to permanently stop, or in mandatory injunction cases to perform, the specified conduct. Despite the name, a permanent injunction can later be modified or dissolved if circumstances change significantly.

The Bond Requirement

Before issuing an injunction, the court must require the applicant to post a bond, called an “undertaking” in the statute. The bond guarantees that if the court ultimately decides the injunction should not have been granted, the person who was restrained can recover damages up to the bond amount. Those damages cover losses the restrained party suffered because of the injunction itself, such as lost business revenue or compliance costs.⁴

The restrained party has five days after being served with the injunction to challenge the bond as insufficient. If the court agrees the bond is too low and the applicant fails to file an adequate one within the required time, the injunction gets dissolved. This mechanism protects defendants from being locked into harmful restrictions by a plaintiff who cannot back up the order financially.⁴

Modifying or Dissolving an Injunction

An injunction is not necessarily permanent, even when labeled as one. Under CCP 533, a court can modify or dissolve any injunction or TRO on notice if the requesting party shows one of three things: the facts underlying the original order have materially changed, the law on which the order was based has changed, or the interests of justice would be served by modifying or ending the order.⁵

The “material change in facts” ground is the one litigants use most often. A business enjoined from using a certain marketing practice might move to dissolve the order if the competitor who obtained it goes out of business. The key word is “material.” Minor or speculative changes won’t cut it, and the party seeking dissolution carries the burden of showing why the original order no longer makes sense.

Penalties for Violating an Injunction

Ignoring an injunction is contempt of court, and California treats it as a criminal offense. Under Penal Code Section 166, willful disobedience of any court order, including injunctions, is a misdemeanor.⁶ The default misdemeanor penalty is up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.⁷

Certain violations carry harsher consequences. Willfully violating a protective order or stay-away order is punishable by up to one year in county jail and a $1,000 fine. If that violation results in physical injury, the court must impose at least 48 hours of jail time regardless of any other sentence. A second or subsequent violation of a protective order within seven years that involves violence or a credible threat of violence can be charged as a felony, punishable by 16 months, two years, or three years in state prison.⁶

For someone previously convicted of stalking who then violates a court order by contacting the victim, the penalty increases to up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.⁶

1
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 525 – Injunction
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California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 526
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California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 527
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California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 529
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California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 533
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California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 166 – Contempt of Court
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California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 19