Understanding Domestic Abuse Protection Orders

The following relationships are deemed to be considered a "personal connection" for cases concerning domestic abuse. 

• Parties who are, or have been, married to each other; 
• Parties who are, or have, civil partners of each other;
• They have agreed to marry one another (whether or not the agreement has been terminated);
• They have at any point entered in to a civil partnership 
• They are, or have been, in an intimate personal relationship with each other; 
• They each have, or there has been a time when they each have had, a parental relationship in relation to the same child; 
• They are relatives 

A DAPN is a notice which the police will issue to the accused to provide immediate protection to the person who is alleged to be subject to any form of domestic abuse. A DAPN can be issued by a police officer where they consider that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person has been abusive towards another person which is aged 16 or over. 

A DAPN will contain specific terms which will prevent contact between the parties, and can prevent the accused from going to a specific address, area or within a certain distance of it. Where the police issue a DAPN they will then go on to apply for a Domestic Abuse Protection Order (DAPO), this application will usually be heard by the Magistrates Court within 48 hours. 

If within the 48 hour period the DAPN is breached by the accused then the police can arrest and hold the accused in custody until the application for DAPO is to be heard. 

A DAPO is a formal civil order made by the court to protect those alleged to be a victim of domestic abuse. The abuse does not have to be violent, it can be sexual, financial, controlling, emotional and psychological. Currently orders that set to protect victims of domestic abuse (DVPOs) can only be made by the Magistrates Court, the new DAPOs provide these powers to family and civil courts, widening the scope for the accused to fall subject to one where various proceedings are ongoing. 

When deciding whether to impose an order the court will consider the evidence put before it to the civil standard of proof, the balance of probabilities. This is a much lower threshold than the court would apply in a criminal case and therefore, the court does is not required to be sure that the accused has committed any offence, just that there is a chance they pose a risk of abuse to the alleged victim and it is therefore necessary and proportionate to impose the order. 

There is also no requirement for the accused to have been convicted of an offence, a person with a clean police record, with no criminal proceedings pending can be made subject to a DAPO. 

Prohibitions are rules put in place to prevent a person from doing something. Common prohibitions in domestic abuse cases aim to stop the accused from coming within a specified distance of an address and to stop contact with the alleged victim. 

A DAPO will always include mandatory notification requirements. This means that the accused would have to register their name and address with the police within three days of the order being made, and keep the police updated whenever these details change.