Domestic Abuse – legislative changes made by the Government

They have announced further reforms following on from the recent announcement about the sentencing of Domestic Abuse Offences.
This will make it clear that Domestic Abuse applies to all relationships and victims and includes economic abuse and controlling behaviour.

Domestic Abuse

Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexual orientation. The abuse can encompass, but is not limited to:

• psychological

• physical

• sexual

• economic

• emotional

Controlling Behaviour

Controlling behaviour is a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.

Coercive Behaviour

Coercive behaviour is an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.

New Protective Order

The Government proposes to create a new Domestic Abuse Protection Notice(DAPN), which could be made by the police, and a Domestic Abuse Protection Order(DAPO), which could be made by the courts in a wide range of circumstances.

These measures would bring together the strongest elements from existing protective orders used in domestic abuse cases, creating a single, flexible pathway for victims, police and other professionals.

While the current domestic violence protection notice and order will be replaced by the new DAPN and DAPO regime, other current orders will continue to exist as these provide protection in situations other than domestic abuse. For example, restraining orders, non-molestation orders and occupation orders.

The new order could be made by a court following a freestanding application, including by the victim and certain parties on the victim’s behalf (for example a family member or support service), and could also be made by a court during any ongoing proceedings, including on conviction or acquittal in any criminal proceedings.

The police would also have the power to apply for the new order, including after they had made a Domestic Abuse Protection Notice. In practice, this would mean that Domestic Abuse Protection Orders could be made in family, civil and criminal courts.

The new order would also be more flexible in terms of the conditions that could be attached to it, which could include both prohibitions (for example requirements not to contact the victim, including online, not to come within a certain distance of the victim, and not to drink alcohol or take drugs) and positive requirements. These positive requirements could include attendance at perpetrator programmes, alcohol and drug treatment programmes and parenting programmes. Electronic monitoring (for example location or alcohol monitoring) and notification requirements such as the requirement for certain perpetrators to provide the police with personal information. For example, their address and details of relationship and family circumstances could also be used as conditions attached to the new order.

The length of time that the order is in place can be flexible. It could be for a time period ordered by the court or until the court made further order, in contrast to the current maximum duration for the existing domestic violence protection order of 28 days.

It would be a criminal offence to breach a Domestic Abuse Protection Order.

Our Assistance

We are experienced in defending all matters of domestic abuse allegations. Domestic incidents can easily become out of control and the first account made to a police officer may not reflect the full and detailed background, nor adequately explore the side of the alleged perpetrator.

We know that everything is not always as it seems and we like to build our own accurate picture of each side of the case – both prosecution and defence.

In our experience, the protective order regime is often not applied correctly, and you can be assured that any orders sought will be no more difficult than properly prescribed by law, and subject to the most intense scrutiny.

If you have any questions or queries about the above or any other matter please do not hesitate to contact one of our Criminal Defence Solicitors:- 0161 477 1121  [email protected].