law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, an appearance (from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''apparere'', to appear) occurs when a party to a

lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...

physically appears in court, or to a formal act through which a

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one juris ...

submits to the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

of the

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

in which the lawsuit is pending.

History

The defendant in an action in the High Court of England enters his appearance to the

writ of summons A writ of summons is a formal document issued by the monarch that enables someone to sit in a Parliament under the United Kingdom's Westminster system. At the beginning of each new Parliament, each person who has established their right to attend ...

by delivering, either at the central office of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, or a district registry, a written

memorandum A memorandum (: memorandums or memoranda; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered"), also known as a briefing note, is a Writing, written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviation, ...

either giving his

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

's name or stating that he defends in person. He must also give notice to the

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

of his appearance, which ought, according to the time limited by the writ, to be within eight days after service; a defendant may, however, appear any time before judgment. The ''

Rules of the Supreme Court The Rules of the Supreme Court (RSC) were the rules which governed civil procedure in the Senior Courts of England and Wales, Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales (since 2009 called the Senior Courts) from its formation in 1883 until ...

'', orders xii. and xiii., regulate the procedure with respect to the entering of an appearance, the giving of notice, the limit of

time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

, the setting aside and the general effect of default of appearance. In county courts there is no appearance other than the coming into court of the parties to the suit. In

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

cases the accused appears in person. In

civil cases Civil law is a major "branch of the law", in common law legal systems such as those in England and Wales and in the United States, where it stands in contrast to criminal law.Glanville Williams. ''Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 19 ...

infants appear by their guardians ''ad litem'';

lunatics ''Lunatic'' is a term referring to a person who is seen as mentally ill, dangerous, foolish, or crazy—conditions once attributed to "lunacy". The word derives from ''lunaticus'' meaning "of the moon" or "moonstruck". History The term "lun ...

by their committee; companies by a solicitor; friendly societies by the

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

or other officer appointed to sue or be sued on behalf thereof.

Forms

An appearance may occur when a party physically appears in a court proceeding, or through the filing of a written document with the court. Failure to appear in a timely manner may result in the entry of a

default Default may refer to: Law * Default (law), the failure to do something required by law ** Default (finance), failure to satisfy the terms of a loan obligation or failure to pay back a loan ** Default judgment, a binding judgment in favor of eit ...

against the non-appearing party. By default, a party's appearance in a court proceeding is unconditional. The effect is to acknowledge the court's jurisdiction over the party who has made the appearance, and to waive any irregularity in service or commencement of proceedings. In order to avoid conceding jurisdiction, waiving irregularities, or both, a party may file a conditional appearance. A conditional appearance has two primary forms, the limited appearance, which disputes liability to the limited extent of identified property, and the special appearance, which allows a defendant to dispute the personal jurisdiction of the court over the defendant so as to avoid default while the defendant seeks the dismissal of the action. A conditional appearance may be both conditional and special.

Limited appearance

A limited appearance is a term used in the

United States law The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the supreme law is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...

civil procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and regulations along with some standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or ca ...

to describe a civil defendant's appearance in a

quasi in rem A ''quasi in rem'' legal action (Latin, ''"as if against a thing"'') is a legal action based on property rights of a person absent from the jurisdiction. In the American legal system the state can assert power over an individual simply based ...

action in the court of another state to dispute liability to the limited extent of the value of the property seized by that court. This strategy allows the defendant to dispute only that amount seized, though this amount is less than the total amount in controversy, thus limiting his personal liability. Before the advent of this procedural device, a defendant faced the dilemma of either allowing his property to be seized with no defense and sold at

sheriff's sale A government auction or a public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a governmen ...

to partially satisfy the claim against him or, on the other hand, to appear in court to dispute the claim but in the process expose himself to the full

in personam ''In personam'' is a Latin phrase meaning "against a particular person". In a lawsuit in which the case is against a specific individual, that person must be served with a summons and complaint (in England & Wales known as Particulars of Claim (CP ...

jurisdiction of the court and therefore the entire amount in controversy.

Special appearance

A special appearance is a term used in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

to describe a civil

's appearance in the

of another

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

solely to dispute the

personal jurisdiction Personal jurisdiction is a court's jurisdiction over the ''parties'', as determined by the facts in evidence, which bind the parties to a lawsuit, as opposed to subject-matter jurisdiction, which is jurisdiction over the ''law'' involved in the ...

of the court over that defendant. Prior to the advent of this procedure, defendants had to either appear in the other state's court to defend the case on the merits, or not show up in court at all, and then mount a

collateral attack ''Res judicata'' or ''res iudicata'', also known as claim preclusion, is the Latin term for ''judged matter'', and refers to either of two concepts in common law civil procedure: a case in which there has been a final judgment and that is no lon ...

on any

judgment Judgement (or judgment) is the evaluation of given circumstances to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. In an informal context, a judgement is opinion expressed as fact. In the context of a legal trial ...

rendered against them, when the

came to the defendant's state to collect on the judgment. In a legal

catch-22 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. It was his debut novel. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it ...

, if the defendant appeared solely to contest jurisdiction, the court would then be permitted to assert jurisdiction based on the defendant's presence. In response to the apparent inequity presented by this situation, most states have passed

statutes A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

permitting the defendant to make a special appearance in the courts of the state to contest jurisdiction, without further subjecting themselves to the jurisdiction of the court. The equivalent of such an appearance is possible in

U.S. federal courts The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government. The U.S. federal judiciary consists primaril ...

, for the defendant may make a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Beginning in the late 1990s, adherents of the sovereign citizen's movement have attempted to use the special appearance to question the jurisdiction and competence of courts where the point is moot. The most prevalent use of the special appearance is in any criminal court, as special appearances are only recognized in the civil rules of procedure and the civil courts. Thus, the term special appearance has no meaning in the context of a criminal court, as anyone committing, or having been indicted for or charged with committing or otherwise alleged to have committed a criminal offense are de jure within the jurisdiction of the criminal courts, whatever their residence or national citizenship.

References

{{reflist Legal terminology