Summons

It replaces the former procedure in common-law countries by which the plaintiff actually had to ask the sheriff to arrest the defendant in order for the court to obtain personal jurisdiction in both criminal and civil actions.

A citation, traffic violation ticket, 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, misdemeanor, or other summary offence.

[2] The person summoned may be required to produce books, papers, records, or other data, and to give testimony under oath before an IRS employee.

[3] The IRS is also empowered to issue the section 7602 summons for the purpose of "inquiring into any offense connected with the administration or enforcement of the internal revenue laws".

[7] In England and Wales, the various royal writs traditionally used to commence the forms of action were abolished by the Uniformity of Process Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will.

Next came the word "Witness," then the name and title of the Lord Chancellor, and the date on which the writ was issued.

[10] The traditional writ language was changed in 1980 at the insistence of Lord Chancellor Hailsham, who felt that a command from the monarch was too intimidating for ordinary laypeople.

[11] In 1999, the writ of summons was replaced with the claim form by the Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (CPR).

This was part of the CPR's reforms to simplify legal terminology; at the same time, the plaintiff was renamed the claimant.

[12] Unlike the traditional writ of summons, the notice to the defendant about when to respond is no longer provided on the claim form itself.

The CPR is oddly silent about this, but the claimant is generally expected to concurrently serve Form N1C, Notes to defendant on replying to the claim form, which does warn that the defendant must respond within 14 days of service of particulars of claim.

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Government Publishing Office.