Section 14, Rule 13 of the 2020 Rules of Civil Procedure provides that “the following orders, pleadings, and other documents must be served or filed personally or by registered mail when allowed, and shall not be served or filed electronically, unless express permission is granted by the Court.” One of the documents mentioned is a subpoena. Section 14(b) of Rule 13 thus gives the impression that a subpoena may be served by registered mail or by electronic means if express permission is granted by the court.
Section 14(b) of Rule 13 should however be read in conjunction with Section 6 of Rule 21 which provides that service of a subpoena shall be made in the same manner as personal or substituted service of summons and that costs for court attendance and the production of documents and other materials subject of the subpoena shall be tendered or charged accordingly.
Perusing the two provisions, it appears that a subpoena cannot be served by registered mail or by electronic means. Service by registered mail is qualified by the phrase “when allowed” and from a reading of Section 6 of Rule 21 such is not allowed in the case of a subpoena. Moreover it is difficult to conceive how the costs for court attendance and production of documents and materials may be tendered or charged in case of service by registered mail or by electronic means.
In case of failure to serve personally a subpoena, service may be made by emailing it to the defendant’s email address, if allowed by the court, but this is really subsumed under substituted service under Section 6(e) of Rule 14.
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