Finding yourself behind the bars or in a law dilemma could be your worst nightmare. Whether it is a criminal or a civil case you will have to navigate the complicated and confusing world of lawyers and courtrooms which can be frightening and cost you a large proportion of your budget. A layman would not even know that a Criminal Defense attorney and a Criminal defense lawyer is the same thing.
Generally, a police officer cannot walk into your home, beat you out and drag you to jail. However this act can become legally acceptable if the police officer has an arrest warrant in your name. So the question that arises here is what is an arrest warrant? Let’s take it slow and start with what is a warrant.
A warrant is an authorization for a competent officer, giving him the authority to perform an action that violates an individual’s rights which might be illegal otherwise. Warrant is a writ issued by a judge that can be of many types, and one of these is an arrest warrant. Search warrant, execution warrant, share warrant and bench warrant are all types of warrants.
If the crime was committed by someone, and there is enough evidence in that regard, the state may issue an arrest warrant which authorizes arrest as well as detention of that individual. Sometimes arrest warrant may be issued on the fact that a person in question failed to show up in the Court although the crime that he committed was too petty, such as unable to pay the outstanding parking tickets.
Bench warrants are issued if the person has skipped his or her next scheduled court appearance. The warrant issued by the superior or county Court is known as superior court warrant. The purpose to issue this is to secure the appearance of the defendant in court.
A court order is issued by a judge or magistrate judge that gives the authority to competent officers to search a person or person’s premises for evidence of a crime and confiscate thereof. Although this is not an arrest warrant nevertheless if the officer found any evidence or is skeptical, he or she can arrest you without the warrant of arrest.
Execution warrants give authorization for a death sentence to be executed this is also known as capital punishment. However this is usually confused with license to kill. A license to kill operates like an arrest warrant, but with more deadly outcomes rather than just arresting the criminal.
Share warrants on the other hand are unlike the above mentioned warrants. A share warrant is issued by public limited companies only on fully paid up shares. A private company cannot issue such a warrant. It is a document of title for the bearer and states that he or she is entitled to number of shares mentioned therein. A share warrant is usually accompanied by attached coupons for the payment of future dividends.
Civil warrant is commonly issued in the small claims court when filing suits of petty issues. When a warrant is made in an individual’s name, it explicitly compromises some of their rights which they are entitled to under the law.