How to acquire JURISDICTION over a person

There are different ways by which a court acquired jurisdiction over a person. We need to know first who the person, or party is, before we can determine how the court acquires jurisdiction over him. First, we need to distinguish between the plaintiff and defendant and we also need to determine whether the case is a civil case or a criminal case.

For civil cases, the plaintiff is the one who files the complaint. Jurisdiction over the person of the plaintiff is automatically acquired at the moment the plaintiff files his complaint, the acquisition of jurisdiction is automatic. Meanwhile, jurisdiction over the person of the defendant is acquired by service of summons. Proper service of summons is required before a defendant may be held under the jurisdiction of the court. This is very important because if no summons were served to the defendant, the court's judgment is void.

Jurisdiction over the person of an accused is acquired upon either his apprehension, with or without warrant, or his voluntary submission or appearance to the jurisdiction of the court. When you encounter the term "accused," this refers to criminal cases.