Compulsory Process Under the common law, parties to a lawsuit and others who possess information about it have a duty to come forward and cooperate with the court when ordered to do so. This duty is reinforced by inherent powers of the courts to compel the appearance of witnesses and parties. Typically the device used to compel appearance is the subpoena, but courts can also issue warrants of arrest or attachment if needed. Courts have a variety of sanctions at their disposal to secure compliance to orders compelling appearance, including the power of contempt, which can result in fines and/or imprisonment.

The Sixth Amendment regards compulsory process as a fundamental right for the accused in criminal proceedings. It provides in part that the accused in a criminal prosecution has a right “to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor,” that is to have a court compel the appearance of witnesses who will benefit him. This guarantee was one of several provisions in the Sixth Amendment designed to reject earlier English practices that did not permit persons accused of felonies or treason to introduce witnesses in their own defense. In Washington v. Texas (1968), the Sixth Amendment right of compulsory process was made applicable to the states via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (see Incorporation Doctrine).

Malcolm M. Feeley

COMPULSORY PROCESS

The method employed by which a person wanted as a witness, or for some other purpose, in a civil or criminal action is forced to appear before the court hearing the proceeding.

Compulsory process encompasses not only a subpoena, which is a command to appear at a particular time and location to provide testimony upon a certain matter, but also a bench warrant, which is a written order commanding a law enforcement officer to seize the person named and bring that person into court.

The sixth amendment to the Constitution provides that the accused in criminal prosecutions shall have the right "to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor."