Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps courts must take to ensure that (a) they have the correct personal details of defendants and (b) defendants are aware of their summons.

The general principles governing the process of communicating and providing notice of proceedings to the defendant of documents in civil legal proceedings are contained in the Civil Procedure Rules. The claimant provides the court with an address for service of the claim.

Courts are not required to ensure that they have the correct personal details of defendants or that defendants are aware of claims issued against them. The onus is on the parties to provide the correct information. Claimants must sign a statement of truth confirming that the details in their claim, including the address of the defendant, are true. Anyone who deliberately provides false information to the court may be subject to contempt of court proceedings and, if contempt is proved, the penalty is a fine or imprisonment.