<P> In Australia, bailiffs service various legal documents (e.g. subpoenas), issued from any Australian jurisdiction . Bailiffs also have the duty of executing warrants . </P> <P> The office of bailiff was historically used in Flanders, Zealand, the Netherlands, Hainault, and in northern France . The bailiff was a civil servant who represented the ruler in town and country . In Flanders the count usually appointed the bailiff . </P> <P> In the Low Countries and German - speaking Europe this position was known as baljuw (from bailli), but other words were used such as schout "reeve, (medieval) bailiff" (Holland, Antwerp, Mechelen,' s - Hertogenbosch, Turnhout), meier "majordomo" (Asse, Leuven), drossāte "steward, seneschal" (other parts of Brabant), amman (Brussels), and Amtmann and Ammann (Germany, Switzerland, Austria). The Amtmann was the senior official appointed by a territorial lord to oversee the administration and jurisdiction of a manorial estate or equivalent . </P> <P> Most of the functions associated with the older Dutch - language terms translated as bailiff in English, are no longer found in one officer . The modern terms huissier de justice (in French) or gerechtsdeurwaarder (in Dutch) however, are often, and inaccurately, translated into English as bailiff, though the latter under an Anglo Saxon law system is by no means identical to the former who is typical for many countries influenced by the Napoleonic Code . He or she is a sworn officer who may legally deliver exploits (process serving), see to the execution of court orders such as the confiscation of goods, or make formal record of events, acts and circumstances . In Belgium, the bailiff can be appointed by a confiscating court to exercise the judicial mandate of schuldbemiddelaar (in Dutch) or médiateur de dettes (in French), a debt negotiator, in a procedure called collectieve schuldenregeling (CSR) or médiation collective de dettes, a collectively negotiated settlement of debts, which is comparable with the regulations by the Wet Schuldsanering Natuurlijke Personen (WSNP) in the Netherlands . </P>

Who is a bailiff and what are his responsibilities