![]() ![]() If a witness is reluctant to testify, then the personal service of subpoena is usually required with proof of service by non-party server. Typically subpoenas are issued "in blank" and it is the responsibility of the lawyer representing the party ( plaintiff or defendant) on whose behalf the testimony is to be given to serve the subpoena on the witness. Additionally, court rules may permit lawyers to issue subpoenas themselves in their capacity as officers of the court. Subpoenas are usually issued by the clerk of the court in the name of the judge presiding over the case. In New Zealand, subpoenas are governed under the rules of the court in which the subpoena is issued. In Victoria a subpoena is usually issued by a court registry officer, and does not require leave of the court. It was also held that it was not the role of the Court to redraft the subpoena and narrow its scope to those issues in dispute. In Lowery v Insurance Australia Ltd, the NSW Court of Appeal held that where documents requested in the schedule of a subpoena are deemed to have no relevance to the proceedings in dispute, the subpoena may be set aside as it has no legitimate forensic purpose. In New South Wales, a court may set aside the whole, or part, of a subpoena on the basis that it is a " fishing expedition". However, for civil proceedings in England and Wales, it is now described as a witness summons, as part of reforms to replace Latin terms with Plain English understandable to the layman. John Waltham, Bishop of Salisbury, is said to have created the writ of subpoena during the reign of Richard II. ![]() The subpoena has its source in English common law and it is now used almost with universal application throughout the English common law world. The term subpoena is from the Middle English suppena and the Latin phrase sub poena meaning "under penalty". Example of subpoena in the case Anderson v. ![]()
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