CITATION, in law, a summons to appear, answering to a writ of summons at common law, and it is now in English probate practice an instrument issuing from the principal probate registry, chiefly used when a person, having the superior right to take a grant, delays or declines to do so, and another, having an inferior right, desires to obtain a grant ; the party having the prior right is cited to appear and either to renounce the grant or show cause why it should not be decreed to the citator. In divorce practice, when a petitioner has filed his petition and affidavit, he extracts a citation; i.e., a command drawn in the name of the sovereign and signed by one of the registrars of the court, calling upon the alleged offender to appear and make answer to the petition. In Scots law, citation is the judicial notice served upon a person convening him to court as a party litigant, a witness, a haver of documents, or a juror. Citation, as a legal term, is used in the United States to show a reference to a particular law, decision or treatise which tends to support the proposition advanced in a brief or argument. In such cases the volume, section or page, or all, is indicated.
Citation is also a military term denoting special mention for gallantry in action of a military unit, or of an individual under arms. In most nations the Citation is issued by some general officers in charge of a division or brigade, or is published by the War Department. It frequently appears in the General Orders of a military command, outlining the heroic action of those con cerned. In the United States military forces the individual cited is given a silver star in recognition of his service. The f ougere or Citation Cord is given by France to members of a unit receiv ing such an award. In the British and American Military forces, this f ougere is not given but units having received it from the French or other governments are allowed to wear it. A typical General Order issued by the military command of the United States was published in General Order on July 9, 1918 (General Order 112) by the commander of the American forces, General John J. Pershing, citing the heroic action of the First and Second Divisions.