DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Under Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996 a person can apply for an Occupation Order and a Non-Molestation Order with a power of arrest attached. Once in a position to make an application to a County Court for a Non Molestation and/or an Occupation Order, the application will be sent to Court and then the matter will be listed for a hearing before a District Judge at the County Court. The Respondent will be given notice of the hearing, unless the Court feels that it is appropriate to make an Order in the Respondent’s absence. At the hearing the District Judge will consider our application and either make an Order in the terms of our application or give us directions on how the matter shall proceed.

A non-molestation order stops the Respondent from using or threatening violence against you or from instructing or encouraging any other person should do so.  In addition, it will stop the Respondent from intimidating, harassing or pestering you in any way either directly or indirectly, and not to instruct or encourage any other person to do so. 

An occupation order prevents the Respondent from approaching or entering a specific property, the address of which will be
provided to the Court and included in the Order. There will be a specified distance around the property that the Respondent will be prevented from entering. It can also be used to regulate the occupation of the relevant property; either to the Respondent’s exclusion or to regulate joint occupation.

The power of arrest attaches to certain clauses within the Orders, specifically the violence exclusion clauses and also the clause prohibiting the Respondent from attempting to enter your property. This means that if the Respondent breaches the order the police are automatically provided with the power to arrest the Respondent immediately without a warrant. Breach of a Non Molestation Order is a criminal offence and can be punished as such by imprisonment.

Please note that once obtained, an injunction order is only as good as you are in enforcing the same. If any breach occurs then you report it immediately to the police and to ourselves, so enforcement proceedings can be taken.