Family Court Rules 2021

Subject to rule 469, the court may issue —

a subpoena for production; or

a subpoena to give evidence; or

a subpoena for production and to give evidence.

A subpoena mentioned in subrule (1) must be in the approved form.

Subject to rule 469, the court will issue a subpoena mentioned in subrule (1) at the request of a party only if —

the party has requested permission from the court; and

the court has granted permission.

For the purposes of subrule (3)(a), a request for the court’s permission —

may be made orally or in writing; and

may be made without giving notice to any other parties; and

may be determined in chambers in the absence of the other parties.

A party must not request the issue of a subpoena for production and to give evidence if production would be sufficient in the circumstances.

A subpoena must identify the person to whom it is directed by name or description of office.

A subpoena may be directed to 2 or more persons if —

the subpoena is to give evidence only; or

the subpoena requires each named person to produce the same document (rather than the same class of documents).

A subpoena for production —

must identify the document to be produced and the time and place for production; and

may require the named person to produce the document before the date of the trial.

A subpoena to give evidence must specify the time and place at which the person must attend court to give evidence.

A subpoena for production and to give evidence must —

identify the document to be produced; and

specify the time and place at which the person must attend court to produce the document and give evidence.