Understanding the court summons

Many of the cases that come before the courts rely on witnesses. You can be called as a witness to give court evidence if you:

Have information about an incident or crime
You are the victim of a crime
Know one of the people involved in a case. This is known as a character witness
You have specialist knowledge that is relevant to the case. This is known as an expert witness

If you are being asked to come to court to give evidence by the police, you must attend at the stated date and time. If the police think you won't appear at the court to give your evidence, they can compel you to appear by issuing you with a summons. If you then don't appear at court to give your evidence, you will be in contempt of court. The police will then issue a warrant for your arrest.

You can also issue a court summons yourself if you are involved in a court case. If there is a person that you want to call as a witness, you can issue them with a summons. You can do this by completing form N20 that is available free from your court office. It is important to ensure that the court summons is delivered (served) at least four days before your case is due to be heard. You will have to pay £35 to issue a court summons.

A court summons can also be a call for jury service. The letter you receive will be from the Jury Central Summoning Bureau. The summons letter will give you all the information you need about attending the court.

A court summons can also be issued against you for any unpaid tax or other debts. The HMRC can start proceedings against you in a magistrate’s court if:

You owe them less than £2,000
Your debt is more than a year old

The court summons you will receive gives details of the debt you owe and at which court you must appear. If you pay what you owe the court summons will be cancelled.

If you would like to obtain legal advice about a court summons you have received, Contact Law can put you in touch with a local specialist solicitor free of charge. So, if you have any questions or would like our help in finding local solicitors please call us on 0800 1777 162 or complete the web-form above.