Interim orders are provisional or temporary orders by judges or administrative agencies. It is an order that is put into effect pending a hearing, trial, final judgement, or an act by one of the parties. It is usually an order used to maintain the status quo pending the final decision of the case, i.e. an order that asks parties to continue or stop doing an act until the final decision in the case is reached.
There are many types of interim orders, some interim orders direct a party to do a certain act or to stop doing a certain act. For example, a court can give a temporary restraining order at the beginning of a case, effectively preventing the restrained party from coming in contact with the affected party while the court proceedings take place. This is a type of interim order that asks a party to stop doing something. As the name describes, this order is only temporary and will change as the case progresses (possibly into a permanent injunction or a cancellation of the order).
See also, provisional remedies, interlocutory orders, and interlocutory appeal.
[Last updated in June of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team]