Exclusive: The Potential Perils Of Process Serving
August 18, 2022 | Other
Guns, knives and vicious dogs. It’s not every day, but it absolutely happens in the life of a Process Server. For those who don’t know, process serving is the act of delivering legal documentation to a party involved in the proceedings. Process serving is required as part of the legal process in certain proceedings, or simply because one party to the proceedings is refusing to cooperate.
Some people will be over the moon to receive the documents; they might be happy to be finally getting that divorce, or happy that the process, however slow it might be, is finally on the move. Although there are situations where people are pleasant to deal with, there are of course those who are not happy about being served. This can lead to some incredibly dangerous situations.
One situation which comes to mind was a service in Auckland City several years ago where a known gang member had to be served with documents relating to his tenancy agreement. All precautions were taken, and two Investigators attended the address in the interest of safety. While the subject was wary of new people at his address and had others behind him for support, one of the agents picked up on a filleting knife in the subject’s hand while the other Investigator was talking to him. The subject would not accept the documents.
Usually, the Investigators would persist and try to get the subject to accept the documents, however in the dangerous circumstances, and as the documents had been brought to the attention of the subject, they were left at his feet and the Investigators left the premises. This is one of many instances that highlight the need to always remain calm, composed and vigilant in all process serving situations.
Another that springs to mind is a rural service that a colleague of mine had to attend. It was in the middle of nowhere, no service and he went there solo. By all accounts from the client, this subject was willing to accept service and assist with getting proceedings moving. The gate was padlocked shut so the Investigator had to leave his car and walk up the long driveway. The subject had obviously had a change of heart when they saw the Investigator at his address and came out to the front of the house with a firearm pointed directly at him, telling him to leave his property. A no brainer in this situation for the Investigator to leave promptly. This was reported to the client and can result in a successful application for substituted service or potentially police involvement as a firearm had been used to threaten someone.
Many people do not know the process of process serving, and there can be different processes for different documents, like the situation mentioned above. But the general process is the same; identify the subject to be served and hand them the documents. The subject can be identified by either asking their name and having them confirm their identity, or through a photograph provided by the client. Once the subject has been positively identified, they will either accept the documents or not. If they refuse to accept the documents, subjects can become aggressive and situations of confrontation can ensue. In situations like this, they can be left at their feet or brought to their attention and left in their vicinity. Following this, an affidavit of service may be required. This is a legal document that confirms under oath that the documents were served on the correct person.
In circumstances where the subject avoids the process server for a prolonged period of time and after multiple attempts at service, an application for substituted service can be made to the courts. If the court is satisfied that every effort has been made and the subject is avoiding service, they can allow for a number of alternate methods for service to be completed. They could allow for the documents to be left at the subjects last known address, with a family member or to be delivered online via email or Facebook Messenger chat. There is a high threshold for this order to be given and so all avenues must be explored before the courts will allow this.
