A summons is a legal document issued by a court addressed to a defendant in a legal proceeding. Typically, a summons will announce that the person to whom it is directed that a legal proceeding has been started against them, a file has been started in the court records and it announces a date by which the defendant(s) must either appear in court, or respond in writing to the court or the opposing party or parties. As such, the summons is the true descendant of the writ of the common law. In ancient Persian law if one failed to answer the summons of the King the punishment was death. A defendant is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute. ... In law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a government entity in the name of the sovereign power. ... 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). ...

In England and Wales, the term writ of summons for the originating document in Civil proceedings has been replaced with the term Claim Form as part of reforms to simplify legal terminology.

In most U.S. jurisdictions, the service of a summons is in most cases required for the court to have jurisdiction over the party who is being hauled into court involuntarily. The process by which a summons is served is called service of process. The form and content of service in the Federal system is governed by Rule 4 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and the rules of many state courts are similar. The federal summons is usually issued by the Clerk of the Court, in many states the summons may be issued by an attorney, though some states use filing as the means to commence an action and the summons must be filed in those cases in order to be effective. Other jurisdictions may only require that the summons be filed after it is served on the defendants. ... In law, jurisdiction refers to the aspect of a any unique legal authority as being localized within boundaries. ... Jump to: navigation, search Service of process is the term given to legal notice of a court or administrative bodys exercise of its jurisdiction over individuals who are the subject of proceedings or actions brought before such court, body or other tribunal. ... Civil procedure is the written set of rules that sets out the process that courts will follow when hearing cases of a civil nature (a civil action). These rules explain how a lawsuit or case may be commenced, what kind of service of process is required, the types of pleadings...

Notice to appear

A citation or notice to appear is a type of summons prepared and served at the scene of the occurrence by a law enforcement official, compelling the appearance of a defendant before the local magistrate within a certain period of time to answer for a minor traffic infraction or misdemeanor or other summary offence. Failure to appear within the allotted period of time is a separate crime of failure to appear. For the band, see The Police. ... A magistrate is a judicial officer with limited authority to administer and enforce the law. ... In many parts of the world traffic is generally organized, flowing in lanes of travel for a particular direction, with interchanges, traffic signals, or signage at intersectons to facilitate the orderly and timely flow of traffic. ... An infraction (minor offense, minor violation, petty offense) is a petty crime, considered to be less serious than a misdemeanor. ... Misdemeanors (or misdemeanours) are lesser criminal acts which are generally punished less severely than felonies; but more so than infractions. ... In the law of many common law jurisdictions, a summary offence (or summary offense) is an offence which can be tried without an indictment. ... Failure to appear is the legal term for the failure of a defendant or respondent to appear within the stated time before a tribunal as directed in a summons. ...

See also

• subpoena

A subpoena (pronounced suh-pee-nuh) is a writ commanding a person to appear under penalty (from Latin). ...

External link

• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure