summons

n., pl. -mons·es.

1. A call by an authority to appear, come, or do something.
2. Law.
   1. A notice summoning a defendant to appear in court.
   2. A notice summoning a person to report to court as a juror or witness.

tr.v. Law., -monsed, -mons·ing, -mons·es.

To serve a court summons to.

[Middle English somons, from Old French somonse, from feminine past participle of somondre, to summon. See summon.]

Mandate requiring the appearance of the defendant under penalty of having Judgment entered against him for failure to appear. The object of the summons is to notify the defendant that he has been sued. See also Subpoena.

n

A writ requiring a proper officer to notify a defendant that an action has been begun against him or her in the court from which the writ was issued and that he or she is required to appear on a certain day to answer the complaint.

For more information on summons, visit Britannica.com.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

The paper that tells a defendant that he or she is being sued and asserts the power of the court to hear and determine the case. A form of legal process that commands the defendant to appear before the court on a specific day and to answer the complaint made by the plaintiff.

The summons is the document that officially starts a lawsuit. It must be in a form prescribed by the law governing procedure in the court involved, and it must be properly served on, or delivered to, the defendant. If the prescribed formalities are not observed, the court lacks authority to hear the dispute.

In the federal district courts, the summons is prepared by the attorney for the plaintiff and given to the clerk of the court where the case will be heard. When the plaintiff's complaint, setting out his claim, is filed with the court, the clerk signs the summons and gives it and a copy of the complaint to a U.S. marshal or to someone else appointed to serve the papers. Once the summons and complaint are served on the defendant, she must respond to them within twenty days or whatever other time the court allows.

Some states follow this same procedure, but other states allow service of the summons and complaint by delivery directly to the defendant. In those states, the lawsuit is considered begun as soon as the defendant receives the papers, even though nothing has yet been filed with a court. Actions commenced in this way are sometimes called "hip pocket" suits.

See: service of process.

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

Dansk (Danish)
n. - stævning, indkaldelse, befaling
v. tr. - indstævne, indkalde

Nederlands (Dutch)
dagvaarding, oproep

Français (French)
n. - (Jur) citation, (gén) injonction
v. tr. - citer

Deutsch (German)
n. - Aufforderung, Vorladung
v. - beruft ein, lädt vor

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (επιτακτική) πρόσκληση, (νομ.) κλήση, κλήτευση, κλητήριο θέσπισμα
v. - κλητεύω

Italiano (Italian)
notifica, citazione

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

Русский (Russian)
вызов, судебная повестка, требование сделать что-л. или быть где-л., ультиматум о сдаче

Español (Spanish)
n. - comunicado, notificación, aviso, parte, citación, emplazamiento, citación judicial, llamada, convocatoria
v. tr. - convocar, citar, reunir, intimar, requerir

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kallelse, inkallelse, kallelsemeddelande, stämning, stämningsorder, uppfordran, signal
v. - uppmaning att kapitulera, stämma, instämma

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
召唤, 召集, 传唤, 传唤到法院, 传到, 唤出

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 召喚, 召集, 傳喚
v. tr. - 傳喚到法院, 傳到, 喚出

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 소환하다, 호출, 소집
v. tr. - 법정에 소환하다, 호출하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 召喚, 勧告, 召集
v. - 召喚状を送る

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) استدعاء (فعل) يستدعي للمثول امام القضاء‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הזמנה, צו-הופעה, תביעה, דרישה‬
v. tr. - ‮שלח צו-הופעה, אגר כוחות‬

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

To select your translation preferences click here.