Service of process is the term given to legal notice of a court or administrative body's exercise of its jurisdiction over a person (defendant etc.) who is the subject of proceedings or actions brought before such court, body or other tribunal. Usually, notice is furnished by delivering a set of court documents to such person. Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the process that courts will follow when hearing cases of a civil nature (a civil action). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced, what kind of service of process is required, the types of pleadings or... The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) govern civil procedure in the United States district courts, or more simply, court procedures for civil suits. ... The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 came into force in England & Wales on 26 April 1999, largely replacing and significantly overhauling the previous Rules of the Supreme Court (applicable to the High Court of Justice) and the County Court Rules. ... Civil procedure doctrines are rules developed by case law as opposed to being set down in codes or legislation, which, together with Court Rules / Codes, define the steps that a person involved in a civil lawsuit can, may, or can not take. ... In law, jurisdiction from the Latin jus, juris meaning law and dicere meaning to speak, is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted body or to a person to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility. ... Subject matter jurisdiction is a legal term used in civil procedure to indicate that a case must be entered in the proper court of law based on the nature of the claim. ... Personal jurisdiction, jurisdiction of (or over) the person, or jurisdiction in personam is the power of a court to require a party (usually the defendant) or a witness to come before the court. ... Proper venue is one requirement for a court to be able to hear a case. ... In the law, a pleading is one of the papers filed with a court in a civil action, such as a complaint, a demurrer, or an answer. ... In general use, a complaint is an expression of displeasure, such as poor service at a store, or from a local government, for example. ... In the law, a cause of action is a recognized kind of legal claim that a plaintiff pleads or alleges in a complaint to start a lawsuit. ... In common law civil procedure, a demurrer is a pleading by the defendant that contests the legal sufficiency of the complaint. ... In the common law, an answer is the first pleading by a defendant, usually filed and served upon the plaintiff within a certain strict time limit after a civil complaint or criminal information or indictment has been served upon the defendant. ... An affirmative defense is a defense used in litigation between private parties in common law jurisdictions. ... The reply is a response by plaintiff to defedants answer. ... In law, discovery is the pre-trial phase in a lawsuit in which each party through the law of civil procedure can request documents and other evidence from other parties or can compel the production of evidence by using a subpoena or through other discovery devices, such as requests for... In law, interrogatories are a formal set of written questions propounded by one litigant and required to be answered by an adversary, in order to clarify matters of evidence and help to determine in advance what facts will be presented at any trial in the case. ... Default judgment is a binding judgment in favor of the plaintiff when the defendant has not responded to a summons or has failed to appear before a court. ... Summary judgment in U.S. legal practice is a judgment awarded by the court prior to trial, based upon the courts finding that: (1) there are no issues of material fact requiring a trial for their resolution, and (2) in applying the law to the undisputed facts, one party... Voluntary dismissal is when a law suit is terminated by request of the plaintiff (the party originally bringing the suit to court). ... Involuntary dismissal is the termination of a court case despite the plaintiffs objection. ... A settlement is a contract that is one possible result when parties sue (or contemplate so doing) each other in civil courts, usually seeking money as reparations for the alleged wrongdoing of the defendants. ... In legal parlance, a trial is an event in which parties to a dispute present information (in the form of evidence) in a formal setting, usually a court, before a judge, jury, or other designated finder of fact, in order to achieve a resolution to their dispute. ... A party is a person or group of persons that compose a single entity which can be identified as one for the purposes of the law. ... A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute. ... A plaintiff, also known as a claimant or complainant, is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action) before a court. ... In the common law, burden of proof is the obligation to prove allegations which are presented in a legal action. ... A judgment or judgement (see spelling note below), in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following a lawsuit. ... Judgment as a matter of law(JMOL) is a motion made by a party, during trial, claiming the opposing party has insufficient evidence to reasonably support its case. ... Renewed judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) is the partner of judgment as a matter of law in American Federal courts. ... Judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or J.N.O.V. for short (English Judgment + Latin Non Obstante Veredicto) is the practice in American courts whereby the presiding judge in a civil case may overrule the decision of a jury and reverse or amend their verdict. ... In law, a motion to set aside judgment is an application to overturn or set aside a courts judgment, verdict or other final ruling in a case. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Trial de novo. ... In law, a Judicial remedy is the means by which a court, usually in the exercise of civil law jurisdiction, enforces a right, imposes a penalty, or makes some other court order. ... An appeal is the act or fact of challenging a judicially cognizable and binding judgment to a higher judicial authority. ... Notice is the legal concept describing a requirement that a party be aware of legal process affecting their rights, obligations or duties. ... A court is an official, public forum which a sovereign establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ... Organisational use In some organisational analyses, administration can refer to the bureaucratic or operational performance of mundane office tasks, usually internally oriented. ... In law, jurisdiction from the Latin jus, juris meaning law and dicere meaning to speak, is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted body or to a person to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility. ...

Service

Each jurisdiction has rules regarding the means of service of process. Typically, the summons and related documents must be served upon the defendant personally, or in some cases upon another person of suitable age and discretion at the person's abode or place of business or employment. In some cases service of process may be effected through the mail as in some small claims court procedures. In exceptional cases, other forms of service may be authorized by procedural rules or court order, including service by publication when an individual cannot be located in a particular jurisdiction. A summons is a legal document issued by a court addressed to a defendant in a legal proceeding. ... Small claims courts are courts of limited jurisdiction that hear civil cases between private litigants. ...

Proper service of process initially establishes personal jurisdiction of the court over the person served. If the defendant ignores further pleadings or fails to participate in the proceedings, then the court or administrative body may find the defendant in default and award relief to the claimant, petitioner or plaintiff. Service of process must be distinguished from service of subsequent documents (such as pleadings and motion papers) between the parties to litigation. Personal jurisdiction, jurisdiction of (or over) the person, or jurisdiction in personam is the power of a court to require a party (usually the defendant) or a witness to come before the court. ... In law, a default is the failure to do something required by law or to appear at a required time in legal proceedings. ... In the law, a pleading is one of the papers filed with a court in a civil action, such as a complaint, a demurrer, or an answer. ...

In ancient times the service of a summons was considered a royal act that had serious consequences. It was a summons to come to the King's Court and to respond to the demand of a loyal subject. In ancient Persia, failure to respond to the King's summons meant a sentence of death. Today the penalty for ignoring a summons is usually a default money judgment that must be subsequently enforced. A summons is a legal document issued by a court addressed to a defendant in a legal proceeding. ... Look up monarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A monarch (see sovereign) is a type of ruler or head of state. ... The term Persian Empire refers to a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau. ...

Service of process in cases filed in the United States district courts is governed by Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In England and Wales, the rules governing service of documents are contained with Part 6 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 [1]. The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. ... The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) govern civil procedure in the United States district courts, or more simply, court procedures for civil suits. ... The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 came into force in England & Wales on 26 April 1999, largely replacing and significantly overhauling the previous Rules of the Supreme Court (applicable to the High Court of Justice) and the County Court Rules. ...

Service on a defendant who resides in a country outside the jurisdiction of the Court must comply with special procedures prescribed under the Hague Service Convention if the recipient's country is a signatory. Service on defendants in many South American countries and some other countries is effected through the Letter Rogatory process. Where a defendant's whereabouts are unknown, the Court may permit service by publication, usually in a newspaper. The Hague Service Convention, or the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, is a multilateral treaty signed in The Hague on 15 November 1965 by the members of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... A Letter Rogatory or Letter of Request is a formal request from a court to a foreign court for some type of judicial assistance. ...

Process server

In most Anglo-American legal systems the service of process is effectuated by a process server who must be an adult and (in most jurisdictions) not a party to the litigation. This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in order to recover a right, obtain damages for an injury, obtain an injunction to prevent an injury, or obtain a declaratory judgment to prevent future legal disputes. ...

Some jurisdictions require or permit process to be served by a court official, such as a sheriff, marshal, constable or bailiff. There may be licensing requirements for private process servers as in New York City. Other jurisdictions, such as Georgia, require a court order allowing a private person to serve process. Sheriff is both a political and a legal office held under English common law, Scots law or U.S. common law, or the person who holds such office. ... Marshal (also sometimes spelled marshall in American English, but not in British English) is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. ... A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. ... A Bailiff in a United States courtroom Bailiff (from Late Latin bajulivus, adjectival form of bajulus) is a governor or custodian; cf. ...

In non-English speaking countries such as France, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan and China which follow the continental legal system based on the Napoleonic legal codes, service of process is performed by a huissier de justice (gerechtsdeurwaarder in Dutch), either in person or through the mail. In those countries there are two different types of service — signification and notification. The huissier is only responsible for signification, the more formal type of service ¹. First page of the 1804 original edition The original Napoleonic Code, or Code Napoléon (originally called the Code civil des français, or civil code of the French), was the French civil code, established at the behest of Napoléon I. It entered into force on March 21, 1804. ... The chain of a huissier in the French Senate. ...

Acceptance of service (United States)

As a substitute for personal service by a process server, many jurisdictions encourage voluntary acceptance of service. The summons and other documents are mailed to the party to be served together with a request to sign and return a form of acceptance of service, or acknowledgement of service. Acceptance of service means that the served party agrees to have received the complaint or petition without the need to engage a process server. Failure to accept service voluntarily means that the party to be served will be liable for the cost of effecting formal service. In general use, a complaint is an expression of displeasure, such as poor service at a store, or from a local government, for example. ... Look up Petition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A petition is a request to an authority, most commonly a government official or public entity. ...

Personal service

Personal service is service of process directly to party named on the summons, complaint or petition. In most lawsuits, personal service is required to obtain jurisdiction. A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in which the party commencing the action, the plaintiff, seeks a legal remedy. ...

In some instances, an agent for acceptance of service can substitute for personal service.

Agent for acceptance of service

The agent for acceptance of service is person authorized to accept service on behalf of the served party. For example, many corporations are required to have an agent for acceptance of service. It has been suggested that Incorporation (business) be merged into this article or section. ...

Acceptance by an agent for acceptance of service is a form of substituted service.

Substituted service

When a served party is unavailable, many jurisdictions allow for substituted service. Substituted service allows the process server to leave service documents with another responsible third party such as cohabiting adults or an employer. California law requires in addition that service documents be mailed to the recipient. Substituted service often requires a serving party show that ordinary service is impracticable and that substituted service will reach the party and effect notice.

In addition, substituted service may be done through public notice followed by sending the documents by certified mail.

References

• Note 1: (pdf) Handbook of the Hague Service Convention — explains the difference between signification and notification in legal systems based on the Napoleonic Code

The Hague Service Convention, or the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, is a multilateral treaty signed in The Hague on 15 November 1965 by the members of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. ... First page of the 1804 original edition The original Napoleonic Code, or Code Napoléon (originally called the Code civil des français, or civil code of the French), was the French civil code, established at the behest of Napoléon I. It entered into force on March 21, 1804. ...

External links

Site containing state specific civil procedure information, Process Server Associations and other useful resources. International Process Server Directory