subpoena

(sə-pē'nə)

[Middle English suppena, from Medieval Latin sub poenā, under a penalty (from the opening words of the writ) : Latin sub, under; see sub- + Latin poenā, ablative of poena, penalty.]

View more Law & Legal Issues videos

For more information on subpoena, visit Britannica.com.

(Lat., “under penalty”), an order of a court to a person commanding him or her to appear as a witness or to produce documents in his or her possession (subpoena duces tecum). The use of subpoenas in civil proceedings in federal courts is regulated by rule 45 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

— William M. Wiecek

[Latin, Under penalty.] A formal document that orders a named individual to appear before a duly authorized body at a fixed time to give testimony.

A court, grand jury, legislative body, or administrative agency uses a subpoena to compel an individual to appear before it at a specified time to give testimony. An individual who receives a subpoena but fails to appear may be charged with contempt of court and subjected to civil or criminal penalties. In addition, a person who has been served with a subpoena and has failed to appear may be brought to the proceedings by a law enforcement officer who serves a second subpoena, called an instanter.

A subpoena must be served on the indivi- dual ordered to appear. In some states a law enforcement officer or process server must personally serve it, whereas other states allow service by mail or with a telephone call. It is most often used to compel witnesses to appear at a civil or criminal trial. A trial attorney may receive an assurance from a person who says that she will appear in court on a certain day to testify, but if a subpoena is not issued and served on the witness, she is not legally required to appear.

It is up to the attorneys in a case to request subpoenas, which are routinely issued by the trial court administrator's office. The subpoena must give the name of the legal proceedings, the name of the person who is being ordered to appear, and the time and place of the court hearing.

Legislative investigating committees also issue subpoenas to compel recalcitrant witnesses to appear. Congressional investigations of political scandal, such as the Watergate scandals of the Nixon administration, the Iran-Contra scandal of the Reagan administration, and the Whitewater scandal of the Clinton administration, rely on subpoenas to obtain testimony.

A subpoena that commands a person to bring certain evidence, usually documents or papers, is called a subpoena duces tecum, from the Latin "under penalty to bring with you." This type of subpoena is often used in a civil lawsuit where one party resists giving the other party documents through the discovery process. If a court is convinced that the document request is legitimate, it will order the production of documents using a subpoena duces tecum.

A party may resist a subpoena duces tecum by refusing to comply and requesting a court hearing. One of the most famous refusals of a subpoena was Richard M. Nixon's reluctance to turn over the tape recordings of his White House office conversations to the Watergate special prosecutor. Nixon fought the subpoena all the way to the Supreme Court in United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 94 S. Ct. 3090, 41 L. Ed. 2d 1039 (1974). The Court upheld the subpoena, leading Nixon to resign his office a short time later.

under penalty (a summons to court)

An order of a court, a legislature, or a grand jury compelling a witness to be present at a trial or hearing, under penalty of fine or imprisonment. Subpoena is Latin for “under penalty.”

The process or writ issued by the court requiring the attendance of a witness at a certain time and place for testimony. It also may order him or her to bring books, records, or other relevant items as evidence.

• Laws, Procedures, and Court Proceedings - subpoena: (vb) Latin. lit. under penalty; command to appear in court and testify
• Legal Procedures and Trials - subpoena: writ commanding a person to appear in court or face penalty

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)

Look up subpoena in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A subpoena  /səˈpiːnə/ is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:

1. subpoena ad testificandum orders a person to testify before the ordering authority or face punishment. The subpoena can also request the testimony to be given by phone or in person.
2. subpoena duces tecum orders a person or organization to bring physical evidence before the ordering authority or face punishment. This is often used for requests to mail copies of documents to requesting party or directly to court.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Subpoena process 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading

Etymology

The term is from the Middle English suppena and the Latin phrase sub poena meaning "under penalty".^[1] The term may also be spelled "subpena".^[2] The subpoena has its source in English common law and it is now used almost with universal application throughout the English common law world. However, for civil proceedings in England and Wales, it is now described as a witness summons, as part of reforms to replace Latin terms with English terms which are easier to understand. John Waltham, Bishop of Salisbury, is said to have created the writ of subpoena in the reign of Richard II.^[3]

Subpoena process

Subpoenas are usually issued by the clerk of the court (see below) in the name of the judge presiding over the case. Additionally, court rules may permit lawyers to issue subpoenas themselves in their capacity as officers of the court.  Typically subpoenas are issued "in blank" and it is the responsibility of the lawyer representing the plaintiff or defendant on whose behalf the testimony is to be given to serve the subpoena on the witness. If a witness is reluctant to testify, then the personal service of subpoena is usually required with proof of service by non-party server.

The subpoena will usually be on the letterhead of the court where the case is filed, name the parties to the case, and be addressed by name to the person whose testimony is being sought. It will contain the language "You are hereby commanded to report in person to the clerk of this court" or similar, describing the specific location, scheduled date and time of the appearance. Some issuing jurisdictions include an admonishment advising the subject of the criminal penalty for failure to comply with a subpoena, and reminding him or her not to leave the court facilities until excused by a competent authority. In some situations the person is paid.

Pro se litigants who represent themselves, unlike lawyers, must ask a court clerk to officially issue them subpoena forms when they need to call witnesses by phone or in person, or when they need to officially request documents to be sent to them and/or directly to court.^[4] Any documents that have not been subpoenaed to court or verified by a witness may be dismissed by the opposite party as hearsay, unless excepted by hearsay rules or permitted by judge. If the witness is called via long-distance phone call, then the requesting party is responsible for initiating the call and providing a payment with a prepaid phone card.

Some states (as is the case in Florida) require the subpoenaing party to first file a Notice of Intent to Serve Subpoena, or a Notice of Production from Non-Party 10 days prior to issuing the subpoena, so that the other party may have ample time to file any objections.

Also, the party being subpoenaed has the right to object to the issuance of the subpoena, if it is for an improper purpose, such as subpoenaing records that have no relevance to the proceedings or of persons who would have no evidence to present.

See also

• Summons

References

1. ^ Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, p. 1160 (8th ed. 1976).
2. ^ See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 1429; 18 U.S.C. § 3333(c)(1); 18 U.S.C. § 1968(c); and 28 U.S.C. § 1365.
3. ^ LectLaw.com, url retrieved 2008-06-26.
4. ^ "Pro Se Litigants / Representing Yourself". http://www.mad.uscourts.gov/general/prose-litigants.htm. 

Further reading

• "The Press and Subpoenas: An Overview," by Marlena Telvick and Amy Rubin, PBS Frontline, February 20, 2010.PBS.org

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Common misspelling(s) of subpoena

• sepina

Dansk (Danish)
n. - stævning
v. tr. - indstævne

Nederlands (Dutch)
dagvaarding, dagvaarden

Français (French)
n. - assignation/ citation à comparaître
v. tr. - assigner (qn) à comparaître

Deutsch (German)
n. - Vorladung
v. - vorladen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (νομ.) (έγγραφο για την) κλήτευση (μάρτυρα)
v. - (νομ.) κλητεύω (μάρτυρα)

Italiano (Italian)
citare, citazione

Português (Portuguese)
n. - intimação
v. - intimar

Русский (Russian)
вызов в суд, вызывать в суд повесткой

Español (Spanish)
n. - citación
v. tr. - citar, mandar comparecer

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - stämning (jur.)
v. - delge en stämning, instämma, kalla inför rätta (jur.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
传票, 传唤, 传讯

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 傳票
v. tr. - 傳喚, 傳訊

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 소환장, 벌칙부, 소환 영장
v. tr. - 소환하다, 소환장을 발부하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 召喚状
v. - 召喚する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) أمر حضور أمام المحكمه (فعل) يقدم أمر الحضور الى أحد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮כתב-הזמנה לדין‬
v. tr. - ‮הוציא כתב-הזמנה לדין‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.