Do they just turn up at a castle or a palace, knock on the door and expect Prince Andrew to answer it?
How do you serve court papers on someone in person who I expect will be staying very close to the Queen?
Serving PA legal papers will have to follow the law in the UK (as in the Hague Convention mentioned in the link) This could be interesting as presumably he's an English citizen who happens to be in Balmoral at the moment (unless the serving of documents in Scotland is different to English law)
I'm curious and would like to read the opinions of AB's legal bods :-)
They should try what the bum bailiffs did in the 19th C. Papers had to be served in person. When a debtor saw a bailiff approaching he would turn and flee. The bailiff would give chase and if he caught up with the debtor and managed to smack him on the bum with the papers they were deemed to have been legally served, hence their name.
Me too. I'm sure I read somewhere that nobody can be arrested when staying with the Queen, (don't know how true that is) so can court papers be served on someone in the presence of the Queen?
JD wouldn't that be a really funny Benny Hill type sketch with the bailiffs chasing P. Andrew through the grounds of a Royal garden and hitting him on the bottom with the papers?
Must be playing Yakety Sax in the background.:-)
Obviously, if he is absolutely innocent of the allegations, as he strenuously maintains, then he will accept the papers in person at the earliest possible opportunity.
If he takes weeks dodging the papers, then his pleas of innocence will look more and more weak as time goes on.
Not that I disagree that if guilty he should face the consequences but how about the US and their behaviour re Saccosolas( sorry re spelling) She was assisted in leaving the UK after killing the Dunn boy and it has recently reported that she might have been on the phone. Double standards here?
Barsel, found this comment on Wales Online Website:
While the Queen cannot be arrested, other members of the Royal Family can be, unless they are with her. The law also states that no arrests can be made in the monarch's presence, or within the surroundings of a royal palace.
If randy Andy plays cat and mouse with the people trying to serve the papers, it won’t look good.
If he hides behind his Royal Protection, the walls of a castle, or cowering behind the Queen, then his protestations of innocence will look rather flimsy.
It doesn't look particularly good at the moment gromit. I don't think he can make it worse, other than cooperating, and then being found guilty in a court of law.
tomus42
Nah. The US spy fleeing justice, and a Royal rapist are entirely different things.
Who can blame him? - I can. If he has done nothing wrong he should be prepared to defend himself and prove his innocence. If he skulks and evades and hides, then everyone can surmise the truth.