Yikes. I am a Canadian lawyer and in my jurisdiction, if there is a hearing and a judge makes an order, the order is “pronounced” i.e. when the words leave the judge’s lips, that is an order and it takes effect immediately. The lawyers still have to draft the “form of order” after, and lawyers for each party who attended must agree on the form of order, and the registrar and/or judge must agree that the paper order correctly reflects what the judge pronounced. Sometimes that involves comparing the clerk’s notes from the day, or even having the audio recording re-listened to by a court staffer to ensure that we all got it right. Occasionally disputes arise and then everyone has to go back in front of the judge to “settle the terms of the order.”
Plenty of times my clients have been abiding by an order which was orally given but for which I have been stuck in the above morass for a while as the paper order was sorted out.
Of course that’s only my experience in my jurisdiction.