A UK lawyer has used Facebook to serve a court summons.

UK courts have previously allowed documents to be served by email, but it is thought that this is the first time a UK court has allowed papers to be served via Facebook. 

The UK lawyer had failed in her attempts to serve the summons directly upon the debtor, and so applied to Judges at the Hastings County Court for permission to serve the court papers via the social networking site.
 
Once the court was satisfied that all conventional methods had been exhausted and that the profiles the lawyer had found did belong to the defendants in question, permission to serve the papers was granted.

Associate Sarah Cunliffe of Access Legal from Shoosmiths said: "This case highlights how the country's courts are moving with the times.

"Courts in other parts of the world, such as Australia have also endorsed the use of Facebook in this way.

"In granting permission to use the social networking site, Australian judges stipulated that the papers be sent via a private email so that other people visiting the page could not read their contents."

In the Australian case the lawyers looked on the debtor's Facebook profile page. They then used the details listed there, such as her date of birth to argue in the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court that she was the person in question.

Her partner was listed as one of her 'friends'. This case highlights the importance of ensuring that your privacy settings on your profile page are as secure as possible.

Court papers in the UK are mostly served via post, fax or email. If you do receive court papers by whatever method, it is vital that you seek legal advice as soon as possible.

Time really is of the essence as there are strict court deadlines for replying to such matters.

People are often worried about the thought of going to court but ignoring the papers, or not seeking legal advice could result in a Judgment being entered against you in default; ultimately this could affect your credit rating.

If you do have to attend court, Access Legal from Shoosmiths can offer representation in a wide range of legal matters, including personal injury claims, debt matters, landlord and tenant disputes.

Call us today to be directed to one of our specialists.

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