What if I don't go to court?

If you become ill or an emergency happens on the day you have to go to court, tell the person who summonsed you as soon as possible. You can contact the court registry if you are unable to contact the person who summonsed you.

If you don’t turn up without telling anyone, you’ll cause significant delays to the case. In a criminal prosecution, a warrant may be issued for your arrest.

If you refuse to go to court as a witness, you may be served with a subpoena. A subpoena is a court order that says you must go to court on a particular date and time. If you don’t go to court after a witness summons or a subpoena has been served upon you, you may be:

• arrested
• charged with contempt of court.