Dos And Don’ts Of Process Service. Serving of process has been a part of the judicial process since the beginning of the judicial system. It is a vital part of the puzzle that is the justice system, without which the process would not be complete.
Being such an important part, it must be done right by the right people within the right time allowed by law. There are therefore a few guidelines that a process server must follow to ensure that they do right by the process.
Honorable mention: a process server is a person who serves a service of process . The serving process is legally delivering copies of court documents to the parties related to a court case.
What is expected of a process server?
By Canadian law, it is required that a process server is above 18 years of age. It is also necessary that they be familiar with the codes of conduct/ the rules and regulations stipulated by law for proper process serving. If the process is served wrongly, the case can easily be thrown out on that basis.
Dos And Don’ts Of Process Service
Below are the don’ts of a process server
What can’t a process server do?
the use of harassment or threats to serve process
Process serving can be a hard task especially in a case where the defendant does not want to be served. In such cases, the process server needs to get creative to find witty ways of ensuring that the defendant is served. However, no matter the situation, a process server cannot threaten or harass the defendant to serve them with papers. This is an offence for which they can be sued.
Breaking and entering
Nowhere in no circumstance is breaking and entering legal, no matter who you are. As a process server, you need to find ways of ensuring that the documents are delivered. As long as the process server enters a gate or company door that was already unlocked, they are within their rights to enter. Any forced entry is termed illegal.
What you can do, if a person is avoiding service is wait until they are in a public place and serve them then, in clear view of all around.
Impersonating a law enforcement officer
This may seem like a genius idea but it is illegal. You cannot pretend to be the police or any other court official to serve process. You might try other creative ways as food delivery or any other such normal delivery. This does not go against the law and allows you access to the defendant without guilt.
Leaving court documents with a minor
This is a mistake that most untrained process servers are liable to make. By law, you cannot leave court documents with a person under the age of 18. You are, however, allowed to leave the documents with an adult if the defendant is not home when you serve the court documents.
Dos And Don’ts Of Process Service
Below are the dos of a process server.
What can a process server do?
Staking out is allowed by law
You cannot be charged with stalking if you stake out to find a defendant. You are within your rights as a process server to stake out at the defendant’s address to find the best time to serve them.
See more questions about process serving here.
How to hire a process server?
If you reside in Canada, you may use the court runner app to order process serving.
You may also be interested in the following articles:
No Responses