Rules of Court · Part 3 · New Jersey
R. 3:3-4 New Jersey Rules of Court, R. 3:3-4: Defective Warrant or Summons, rendered as code with every cross-reference linked
Defective Warrant or Summons
(a) Amendment. No person arrested under a warrant or appearing in response to a summons shall be discharged from custody or dismissed because of any technical insufficiency or irregularity in the warrant or summons, but the warrant or summons may be amended to remedy any such technical defect.
(b) Issuance of New Warrant or Summons. If prior to or during the hearing as to probable cause, it appears that the warrant executed or summons issued does not properly name or describe the defendant, or the offense with which the defendant is charged, or that although not guilty of the offense specified in the warrant or summons there is reasonable ground to believe that the defendant is guilty of some other offense, the court shall not discharge or dismiss the defendant but shall forthwith cause a new complaint to be filed and thereupon issue a new warrant or summons.
Note: Source -- R.R. 3:2-2(d); paragraph (b) amended July 13, 1994 to be effective September 1, 1994.
Verbatim rule text, unmarked. Nothing here is a summary.
rule 3:3-4 "Defective Warrant or Summons" {
(a) Amendment. No person arrested under a warrant or appearing in response to a summons shall be discharged from custody or dismissed because of any technical insufficiency or irregularity in the warrant or summons, but the warrant or summons may be amended to remedy any such technical defect.
(b) Issuance of New Warrant or Summons. If prior to or during the hearing as to probable cause, it appears that the warrant executed or summons issued does not properly name or describe the defendant, or the offense with which the defendant is charged, or that although not guilty of the offense specified in the warrant or summons there is reasonable ground to believe that the defendant is guilty of some other offense, the court shall not discharge or dismiss the defendant but shall forthwith cause a new complaint to be filed and thereupon issue a new warrant or summons.
Note: Source -- R.R. 3:2-2(d); paragraph (b) amended July 13, 1994 to be effective September 1, 1994.
}
referenced_by: 3:6-4
source: njcourts.gov // verbatim; changed 2025-09-26; corpus harvested 2026-09-02← R. 3:3-3 · chapter 3:3 · all rules
The Rules of Court are a government edict and carry no copyright; the text above is the Judiciary’s own publication, unchanged. Structure, links and highlighting are ours and carry no legal weight. Read the rule on njcourts.gov before you rely on it; amendments take effect each September 1.