In my previous article ‘Receiving a Subpoena? Five points of interest’ I discussed five points of interest for studying a subpoena. Among other things, I mentioned that one can be summoned in summary proceedings. In this article, I will take a closer look at ‘summary proceedings’ also known as ’emergency proceedings’.
I will discuss what summary judgment is, how to apply for summary judgment and the process of summary judgment.
Do you want to file an interlocutory appeal or have received an interlocutory subpoena? If so, consult an lawyer.
What is summary proceedings?
Because regular proceedings often take a long time, but one sometimes simply does not have that time, the possibility of ‘summary proceedings’ exists.
An interlocutory injunction is an emergency procedure in which the judge in preliminary relief proceedings (the judge in interlocutory proceedings) may grant a provisional injunction. ‘Provisional’ because, in principle, the decision of the preliminary injunction judge will stand until the claim in the main action is decided.
Examples of summary proceedings
An example of a situation in which you may initiate summary proceedings is when a prejudgment attachment has been placed on your bank account while you are required to make payments. Also, summary proceedings may be desirable if the seller/buyer refuses to cooperate with the transfer of a property or if there is a foreclosure sale scheduled that you want to stop.
For example, summary judgment may also be desired if something is published at short notice that you do not want published.
How is summary judgment requested?
Requesting summary judgment works as follows. An attorney prepares a draft summary judgment subpoena. That summons states what the plaintiff is claiming from the defendant (opposing party). It should also state why there is urgency to that claim.
The summary proceedings form
Meanwhile, a lawyer will ask the other party for the dates of the hearing to be scheduled. After doing so, the lawyer will send the draft summons to the preliminary relief judge of the court in question. To this, the lawyer attaches the so-called ‘summary proceedings form’. This form can be downloaded from the website of De Rechtspraak. The form includes the parties’ details and dates of prevention.
The judge in preliminary relief proceedings, in turn, completes the form further, indicating the case number, when the summary judgment hearing will take place and before which preliminary relief judge. Then the lawyer finalizes the summons.
The bailiff goes on the road
After the summons is final, the bailiff is sent out to serve the summons on the opposing party. The bailiff then announces to the opposing party when the hearing will take place.
The summary judgment hearing
Finally, the preliminary relief hearing takes place. Until no later than 24 hours before the hearing, the parties may bring further documents into the proceedings.
During the summary proceedings hearing, the parties are usually given the opportunity – by means of speaking notes – to tell their story. In most cases, the judge in preliminary relief proceedings pronounces judgment within 14 days after the hearing.
Need assistance from a lawyer in summary proceedings?
Have you received a summons or do you want to initiate summary proceedings yourself? Do not hesitate to contact us.
