You might have heard the phrase, “you’ve been served” in movies and TV shows but in reality, this phrase is not commonly used outside of the media. Process serving is a legal service of formally delivering legal documents to a party involved in a legal suit, like a defendant, witness or other parties that are involved. Hence, process servers deliver these legal documents to ensure that the person or entity involved is properly notified and allowed to respond.
The procedures to process serving varies in different jurisdictions and their actions are governed by strict legal rules to ensure fairness and transparency. This article will cover what a process server is allowed and not allowed to do in the United Kingdom.
What process servers can do:
Serve Legal Documents
Process servers in the UK can serve legal documents such as summonses, statements of claim, writs, court orders, or subpoenas on individuals or entities involved in legal cases. These can be for civil cases, family law cases, eviction or enforcement proceedings. Process servers also serve documents to individuals and business entities, with delivery locations ranging from an organisation’s registered office to a person’s home address, workplace, and any other locations where they might be found.
Personal Service
This is the most common method of process serving, where the process server physically hands the legal documents directly to the named recipient. This is considered one of the most reliable methods of ensuring that someone has been notified of a legal action.
Leave and Send
In a situation where a person’s location cannot be found or they refuse to accept the documents, a process server is allowed to leave the documents at someone else’s address, usually a family member or household member who is at least 16 years of age. Alternatively, service by post can be used to send the documents through special delivery to prove that the person has received it.
Multiple serving attempts
A process server is allowed to serve documents for a number of times, most especially when the party involved is difficult to locate or is avoiding service.
What process servers cannot do:
Enter property without permission
In some countries, process servers are allowed to enter property without permission. However, in the UK, this is not permitted. There must not be any forced entry into someone’s property or home in order to carry out the process.
Act outside legal boundaries
Process servers must act within lawful behaviour and cannot engage in harassment, threats, intimidation, coercion, physical force or other illegal acts while attempting to serve documents. Process servers are also not allowed to participate in fraudulent practices such as pretending to be someone else or falsely claiming they have served the documents. Just like any aspect of a legal procedure, it must be honest and in accordance with the law.
Serving documents in improper locations
While process servers can serve the documents in public spaces, there are still some limitations on the locations they can serve. For example, they are not allowed to serve documents in courthouses, places of worship, or during certain legal proceedings where service might be restricted. Similarly, they cannot serve documents in government buildings or areas designated as ‘off-limits’ to the public. Beyond that, process servers are also not permitted to serve documents outside the jurisdiction specified by the court as there are geographical limitations in the law.
Conclusion
Process serving is an important step in the legal process as it notifies all parties involved in a legal action. It may seem like a simple task and can often be overlooked, but process serving requires attention to detail, knowledge of the law and some investigative skills to ensure that the documents are delivered in a timely and efficient manner.
For reliable and efficient process servers in the UK, get in touch with Eclipse Legal Services. They are an established Process Server in Manchester, specialising in serving a diverse range of legal documents.
