Apparitor (also spelled apparator or shortened to paritor), (Latin for "a servant of a public official", from apparere, "to attend in public") was an attendant who executed the orders of a Roman magistrate.

The term has hence referred to a beadle in a university, a pursuivant or herald; particularly,

In Roman Catholic canon law, which was largely inspired by Roman law, Apparitor remained an official title for an officer in ecclesiastical courts designated to serve the summons, to arrest a person accused, and in ecclesiastico-civil procedure, to take possession, physically or formally, of the property in dispute, in order to secure the execution of the judge's sentence, in countries where the ecclesiastical forum, in its substantial integrity, is recognized.^[1] He thus acts as constable and sheriff. His guarantee of his delivery of the summons is evidence of the knowledge of the summoned of his obligation to appear, either to stand trial, to give testimony, or to do whatever else may be legally enjoined by the judge; his statement becomes the basis of a charge of contumacy against anyone refusing to obey summons.

In English Anglican ecclesiastical courts he is the official who serves the processes of the court and causes defendants to appear by summons.

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Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Apparitor". Image Credit.

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