The Gazette 1996

GAZETTE

JUNE 1996

Domestic Violence Act 1996

b y J o a n O ' M a h o n y , S o l i c i t or

(iii) Parents (iv) Persons of full a ge residing

On 27th February 1 9 96 the President s i g n ed the D ome s t ic V i o l e n ce Bill bringing it into law as the D ome s t ic V i o l e n ce Act 1996. Th is A ct c ame into operation on 27th March 1996. The Act is d e s i g n ed to be the legal r e s p o n se to d ome s t ic v i o l e n ce wh i ch has increased s i n ce 1 9 76 on an unprecedented scale. The Fami ly L aw (Protection of S p o u s es and Children) Act of 1981 is repealed in its entirety but there are transitional p r o v i s i o ns in section 23 of the n ew Act.

with the respondent in a relationship, the basis of wh i ch is not primarily contractual.

S e c t i on 2(1 )(a) (iv) appears to be the catch-all category and its operation will undoub t e d ly require careful monitoring in the future. The Sa f e ty Order is a stand-alone Order wh i ch directs the respondent not to use or threaten to use v i o l e n ce against, mo l e st or put in fear the applicant and not to watch or beset a place wh e re the applicant resides.

T h e principal features of this Act are:

B a r r i n g O r d e r s

Joan O'Mahony

It e x t e n ds protection b e y o nd the limit o f the s p o u s e.

S e c t i on 3( 1) creates three c a t e g o r i es o f "applicants"

T h e penalties of various breaches are increased.

It creates a n ew type of Qrder to be k n o wn as a S a f e ty Order.

j j i

(i) The S p o u se

The Garda p ow e rs of arrest without 1 warrant are a l so increased.

(ii) The Co - h a b i t ee

It e x t e n ds the jurisdiction of the District Court to grant Barring Orders for periods of up to three years.

(iii) The Parent

I In the definition section of the Act, ! "welfare" is n ow s p e c i f i c a l ly stated to | include "physical and p s y c h o l o g i c al welfare". Th is broadens the c o n c e pt of "welfare" p r e v i ou s ly determined by the S u p r eme Court in the O'B v. O'B case. It will be interesting to f o l l ow the S u p r eme Court d e c i s i o ns in the future to s ee h ow far the Court are prepared to g o in w i d e n i ng the parameters within wh i ch c l a i ms for Barring and/or S a f e ty Orders are ma de on the basis of the p s y c h o l o g i c al we l f a re of the applicant or the applicant's dependants.

| It is apparent that the S a f e ty Order will h a ve a mu ch w i d er use as ! applying to a broader category of applicant and the remaining p r o v i s i o ns of section 3 in relation to the b e n e f i c i al interest in the property will also direct mo re p e o p le to the use of the S a f e ty Order remedy. Sub s e c t i on 4 (b) provides a unique presumption in that wh e re the applicant b e l i e v es that he or she has a I legal or b e n e f i c i al interest in the property wh i ch is not less than that of ] the Re s p o nd e n t, then such b e l i ef shall | be a dmi s s i b le in e v i d e n c e. Pr o v i s i on is ma de in section 4.1 for interim Barring Orders to be ma de wh e re there is (a) an i mme d i a te risk of significant harm to the applicant and (b) wh e re the granting of a Protection Order w o u ld not be s u f f i c i e nt to protect the Applicant. I

It p r o v i d es for interim and e x parte Barring Orders.

It introduces the c o n c e pt of a "Watching and Be s e t t i ng" o f f e n c e.

Ex t e n s i ve n ew p ow e rs are g i v en to the Health Board to apply for Orders under the Act. T h e District Court is g i v en further e x t e n s i ve p ow e rs to ma ke Orders under the Child Care Act. T h e District Court is also g i v en the p o w er to ma ke Orders under the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, The Fami ly L aw Ma i n t e n a n ce of S p o u s es and Children Act 1976, The F am i ly H o me Protection A ct 1 9 76 and the Ch i ld Care A ct 1991 without the institution of p r o c e e d i n gs under that Act b e i ng b e f o re the Court.

1. E x t e n s i on of P r o t e c t i on

S a f e t y O r d e r s

Und er section 2 (1) (a) protection is e x t e n d ed to four different c a t e g o r i es of person:

(i) The S p o u se (ii) Co - h a b i t e es

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