Duces Tecum, Subp'na - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition duces-tecum-subp-na

Definition :

Duces tecum, subp'na (you shall bring with you under penalty). If a person, even if he be a party to a cause, have in his possession any written instrument, etc., which it is desired to put in evidence at the trial, instead of the common subp'na he is served with a subpoena duces tecum, commanding him to bring it with him and produce it at the trial. Upon being served with a copy of this subp'na, he must attend at the trial with the instrument required, and produce it in evidence, unless he has some lawful or reasonable excuse for withholding it, of the validity of which excuse the Court and not the witness is to judge. It is no excuse that the legal custody of the instrument belongs to another, if it be in the actual possession of the witness; but if it tend to criminate himself or his client (if the witness be a solicitor), or if it be his title-deed, the Court will not compel him to produce it.

If the witness, instead of bringing the papers, etc., required, deliver them to the opposite party, by whom they are withheld, the Court will allow secondary evidence of the contents of them to be given, without a notice to produce the originals. A witness, producing papers under a subp'na duces tecum, need not be sworn unless he be examined