Lack of signature on summons

Our man in Havana

Hypothetical situation: Is a district court summons with no signature or date valid?

Would a summons in this hypothetical situation be binding on the respondent?

johnnyskeleton

Bond-007 wrote:

Hypothetical situation: Is a district court summons with no signature or date valid?

You should contact a solicitor .

I'd say it might be, on the basis that a technical defect in a summons is answered by appearance. The date on a summons can lead to some confusion in that there are often several dates on it, but it would be fatal if it does not have the date of issue on it (on an old school summons, the date the garda's evidence was received by the court, on a courts no3 summons, the date the garda applies to the district court office) as opposed to the date of perfection, because of our old friend the Petty Sessions Act.

As for the signature, if it is correctly stamped and has the name of the district court clark on it, it is probably alright.

All a summons really has to have is a brief statement in ordinary language of the particulars of the offence alleged, the name and, if known, the address of the accused and notification that he will be accused of that offence at a sitting of the District Court with date time and location.

Bond-007 wrote:

Would a summons in this hypothetical situation be binding on the respondent?

Only if he turns up I suppose. That said, as much as it pains me to say so, it's probably not worth a flutter.