Conditions of a protection order

Every protection order contains standard rules (“conditions”) that prohibit the person from any further domestic violence. Standard conditions also prevent the respondent having any contact with the applicant or the applicant’s children, unless the applicant agrees (eg. consents to the partner returning home).

Non-violence conditions

Respondent must not be violent or abusive.

The respondent must not –

abuse, or threaten to abuse, the applicant or the applicant’s children, whether physically, sexually or psychologically
damage, or threaten to damage, their property, or
encourage anyone else to abuse or threaten them

Non-contact conditions

Unless the applicant has agreed to allow the respondent to resume living with them, the respondent must not contact the applicant or the applicant’s children in any way. This includes –

watching or hanging around their home, workplace or school, or any other place they often go to
stopping or hindering their access to or from any of those places
following them about or stopping or confronting them in any place
phoning or sending a letter, fax, email or text, or making any other kind of contact.
entering or staying on their property (unless they’ve explicitly given permission), or trespassing on any other property where they are at that time.

Exceptions when contact is allowed

The respondent can, however, contact the applicant or the children in the following situations –

if in an emergency
if contact is allowed under a parenting agreement or a Family Court order, or under a special condition of the protection order, or
if contact is necessary for attending a family group conference convened under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act.

Exceptions when contact is allowed

The respondent can, however, contact the applicant or the children in the following situations –

if in an emergency
if contact is allowed under a parenting agreement or a Family Court order, or under a special condition of the protection order, or
if contact is necessary for attending a family group conference convened under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act.

Non-contact conditions suspended while applicant agrees to live together

The non-contact conditions are suspended if the applicant explicitly agrees to live with the respondent.
The conditions automatically come back into force if the applicant asks the respondent to leave. The respondent must immediately leave and cannot contact the applicant or the children in any way.

The non-violence conditions remain in force at all times, whether the applicant and respondent are living together or not.

Other conditions in protection orders

Stopping Violence programmes
The respondent must attend an approved Stopping Violence programme, unless the Family Court thinks there’s a good reason not to require this (for example, if no appropriate programme is available for the particular respondent).

There will probably be sessions of two to three hours over a period of weeks, up to a total of 50 hours.

The programmes teach about the effects of domestic violence, about how the Domestic Violence Act works, and about how respondents can deal with future conflicts in better ways.

Respondents can object to having to attend the programme but must do this within five days of being served a protection order.

If no objection is made and the respondent fails to attend sessions they can be prosecuted.

Firearms and other weapons are banned

The respondent isn’t allowed to possess or have control of any weapons, nor hold a firearms licence.
This includes firearms, airguns, pistols, restricted weapons, ammunition or explosives.

The respondent must hand in any weapons and any firearms licence to the Police as soon as possible and not later than 24 hours after being given the protection order, or earlier if the Police require this.

If you don’t do this, the Police have the power to enter any property and seize the weapons and you could be prosecuted for breaching an order.

If the protection order is temporary, any firearms licence held by the respondent is suspended. When the order becomes final, the firearms licence is cancelled unless an application is made to the Court to modify or discharge this condition.

Special conditions
The Family court can include special conditions in a protection order. Often these will relate to arrangements for contact with any children of the relationship.