Warrant of Committal is a legal term used by the law systems of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, which allows a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

to enforce a judgment or order against a person or corporation that has refused or neglected to comply with a known

court ruling A court order is an official proclamation by a judge (or panel of judges) that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying out of ...

or order within a known fixed period of time.

Eligibility and enforcement

The person (or director of a corporation) subject to the warrant of committal must have been served in a timely fashion with a copy of the order to do (or abstain from doing) the act in question. If the person served with the order fails to obey it, the

judgment creditor A ''judgment creditor'' is a party to which a debt is owed that has proved the debt in a legal proceeding and that is entitled to use judicial process to collect the debt. A creditor becomes a "judgment creditor" when a judgment is rendered stating ...

may issue either a

claim form A summons (also known in England and Wales as a claim form and in the Australian state of New South Wales as a court attendance notice (CAN)) is a legal document issued by a court (a ''judicial summons'') or by an administrative agency of governme ...

or application notice seeking committal (for

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...

) for the offender. The claim form or application notice must identify the breach of

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...

which has taken place, and be supported by an

affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...

(served with it) stating the grounds for the committal application. A warrant of

committal In law, a committal procedure is the process by which a defendant is charged with a serious offence under the criminal justice systems of all common law jurisdictions except the United States. The committal procedure, sometimes known as a prelim ...

may not be enforced more than two years after the date it was issued, without further order from the court. The

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

may dispense with service of the judgment, order, claim form or application notice if it deems it fair to do so. If the committal order has been made in the absence of the

respondent {{unreferenced, date=February 2012 A respondent is a person who is called upon to issue a response to a communication made by another. The term is used in legal contexts, in survey methodology, and in psychological conditioning. Legal usage In ...

, without being served on him, the judge may fix a date and time when the person to be committed is to be brought before him or the court.

Procedure

# Clerk prepares the document (Warrant of Committal) # Clerk separates and distributes document

Trend in Canada

Federal Warrant of Committal admissions in

have increased about 25% between 1989/90 and 1993/94, with approximately 1,000 offenders per year.

References

External links

* http://www.justice.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/contents/schedule2/ccrorder29.htm * http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/manuals/fcm/3chapter/warrant_witness.htm Common law legal terminology Common law Canadian legal terminology Court orders {{law-term-stub