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ANY legal process which requires a person to appear before a court is usually started by a summons or some other document or process similar to it.

A letter comes into the picture when a summons or such other document has been served and the matter is adjourned. In such cases the person may be informed by the court or a solicitor of the next date.

However, there are occasions when the person may be informed by letter. Or sometimes one may receive a letter notifying the new date even though it is already known through some other means.

Anyway, what is relevant is that the person concerned has been informed of the date to be present in court. But the question of a person having to attend court has many facets.

The obligation to attend court differs in different situations. There is a major difference between civil and criminal matters. It also depends on whether the requirement to attend court arises out of a civil claim or the alleged commission of an offence.

The difference between a civil claim and a criminal or statutory prosecution is that in the former case one party is making a claim against another. On the other hand, in a statutory or criminal offence situation, a person is alleged to have committed an offence against society or the state.

In a civil case, the person making the claim is called the plaintiff and is usually either asking the opposite party to give him something or to stop doing something. In a criminal or statutory offence situation the person is charged for doing a wrong for which he will be punished, usually by a fine or imprisonment and sometimes both.

It is by virtue of the difference in these proceedings that different needs arise as to attendance in court and the varying consequences that follow for non-attendance.

It is very disrespectful to the court not to attend when required to do so. But in civil cases the consequence is usually a default order being made if the party asked to attend fails to attend or, worse still, fails to respond at all.

This means that the plaintiff will get an order in his favour "by default" in the nature of a "walk over" victory. However default orders can be set aside if there are merits in the defence or if the person has a legitimate reason for non-attendance.

On the other hand, in so far as statutory and criminal offences are concerned, the offender or the person charged is required to turn up in court personally. If he or she does not do so a warrant of arrest is likely to be issued.

In civil matters, once a solicitor has been appointed, it is not really always necessary for the person to attend court during preliminary matters relating to the matter ready for trial so that both parties can put forward their cases.

A person who is suing or is being sued would usually turn up for hearing because he/she would naturally be very interested in the proceedings. Apart from that, such a person is usually also a witness.

However, it is possible that a party may not turn up in court. This could happen where he is not involved in giving evidence and his status as a plaintiff is not in dispute and such a person is not required as a witness. However some judges do require the parties to be present during the hearing.

In such a case, it would be wrong to stay away.

However, even in civil cases it is not always that a party may not turn up in court. This is more particularly so when a person is served with a subpoena to attend court as a witness. Here the situation is different even though the case is a civil one.

This is because the subpoena is an order from the court requiring the person to stand before the judge to give evidence. Such evidence may comprise oral testimony or it may require production of certain documents. This is usually evident from the face of the document itself.

Such a command must not be and cannot be disregarded. To do so would be contempt for which a court has wide discretionary powers to punish the person.

In such a case the court does not usually have the punishment of the person as its primary objective. The power to punish has as its real objective the need to compel attendance so that relevant evidence may be adduced  for establishing the truth.

Therefore, readers should remember that a person must always attend court if required by a subpoena irrespective of whether it is a civil or criminal matter.

If for any reason the person cannot attend, permission must be sought from the court to be excused completely or on a particular day.

Even if a person who is subpoened as a witness feels that there is no evidence which he can give he must still attend court and be questioned unless prior steps are taken to have the  the subpoena set aside.

There are other occasions when a person need not attend court. This is especially so in civil matters where a court may come to a decision by considering evidence submitted through affidavits and after hearing evidence of counsel.

It will therefore be seen that attending court or the need to do so rises in a variety of ways. When there is doubt one should always double check with one's own lawyers.