Subpoena

A summons is a legal document prepared and submitted by a party or the party's lawyer to the court in connection with the commencement of a civil lawsuit.

The summons often contains an invitation for the other party to respond to one or more allegations made and that the court hearing will account for this.

Often there are two parties to a lawsuit: the plaintiff and the defendant. These are often represented by separate lawyers.

What does a writ of summons contain?

A writ of summons is a legal document that is prepared and submitted to the local court.

The relevant documents for a summons can be found on the court's website.

The summons must contain the plaintiff's and defendant's generalia and your claim. The statement of claim contains the claim(s) for which you want the court's help. For example, it could be the recognition of a right, delivery of assets or payment of a sum of money.

In addition to the claim, the summons contains a statement of the financial balance, including any principal and other costs. Next, the summons contains a statement of the grounds for your claim and proof of your claim. If there are witnesses who can support your claim, you should also include them in your summons.

You can find the template for the applicable summons on domstol.dk, where there is also a guide to what you should fill in. The template has descriptions, examples and is very easy to fill in.

The template is approximately one page long. Remember to be as descriptive with your claim as possible.

The course of an application

A summons starts with you filling out a template on the court's website. It is important that this is filled out completely and correctly. When submitting the summons, a court fee is required, which at the time of writing is DKK 500.

After the summons has been sent, the other party is given the opportunity to respond to the summons. If the defendant chooses not to respond, the summons is served and the court renders judgment in accordance with the plaintiff's claim. The same applies if the defendant does not object to the claim.

If the parties do not agree, a hearing will be convened in court in order to provide guidance to the parties and to clarify the possible further course of action.

How to get started with a writ of summons

Basically, it's easy to get started with drafting a summons. At domstol.dk you will find the relevant documents that need to be completed in order to submit a summons.

On domstol.dk you will find a template with instructions for filling out a summons. The current template is one page long.