The main thing to remember about a court summons is that absolutely anyone can get them and they can be for a variety of purposes. They are not just for ‘criminals’. They could, in fact, be related to divorce proceedings, payment claims, business disputes and many, many other things. But what actually is a summons? In essence, it is a legal document issued by the court and delivered by a process server to the subject of a hearing. It will notify them of any charges against them and inform them of when — if at all — they are to appear in court. If the summons is for a minor matter there is in fact a good chance that a formal hearing won’t be necessary at all.

But even if it is for a minor matter or a court hearing is not imminent, it is important to remember that a summons is an official legal document and as such it must always be responded to in some way. There will be a telephone number to call or an address to send paperwork to, and unless it’s a particularly serious case the defendant usually has a period of up to 30 days to make their answer. The summons itself may not contain a hearing date — it may just be a notification that action could be taken. In cases of smaller debts, it is usually possible to come to an agreement before a court date is arranged.

A court summons works in the same way in most cases.

Image source: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4039/4312159033_6b1c4ce360.jpg

In most cases the summons will be delivered to the subject of the case. However, if this person cannot be found at their address then the paperwork can also be handed over to another person at their place of residence or even a colleague at their place of work. In this case, if the matter goes to court then their presence may well be required at some point to act as a witness. This paperwork will either contain a date at which they are to appear in court or a date by which they must make their response.

The delivery of the summons is generally the job of the process server — a person specially trained to track down defendants and ensure they are in receipt of the court documents. They can only deliver to the person’s place of abode or their place of work, so they need to ascertain this. Sometimes a person moves around a lot or becomes hard to track down because they want to avoid getting their papers. In this case, the job of the process server can be quite challenging.

To avoid any confidentiality issues, the envelope containing the papers is not allowed to contain any marks to identify it as a legal document. It is also important to remember that these do not need to be signed for. As long as a registered process server can confirm they have carried out their task, this should be enough. If for some reason the process server is unable to deliver the summons on their first attempt then they will usually make several more visits to the defendant’s address or place of work. If, and only if, this continues to be unsuccessful they may then place a statement in a local newspaper or other publication. But this last option is very much a last resort and is rarely employed today.

It’s also worth noting that there is more than one type of summons. A citation, for example, is actually prepared and served there and then by a law enforcement official. For example, if you are issued with a speeding ticket or charged with a public order offence you may well be awarded a citation for your trouble. This still acts in pretty much the same way as a standard summons, in that the defendant will still have a certain period of time in which to respond. Often in such cases it will be a simple matter of paying off a fine.

A civil summons is the kind that will be delivered by a process server and is usually accompanied by a complaint so the defendant can familiarise themselves with the details of the charges against them before they make their response. It can be delivered to either individuals or an organisation, local often works best, e.g. a Process Server in Swansea will have a good idea of local people, companies and court processes, etc.