Obtaining Injunctions.

If you are seeking an injunction over someone, we would recommend that you take immediate advice, as in many situations people will be seeking an injunction because they feel threatened. Do not delay in your actions as the threat of violence can be very real; if you need help now you can contact the police, or if your matter is related to domestic violence and you do not wish to contact the police the women's refuge have a 24hr domestic violence helpline 0808 2000 247

What is an injunction?

An injunction is a legal order for a person to do or not to do something. these can include: problems with a neighbour acting in an anti- social way, loud noise for example; being harassed or intimidated by a person; to halt work e.g Tree removal. There are many examples.

Most commonly injunctions are used in family law but they cover many other areas.

If you have a non family law matter, we recommend you contact a solicitor to discuss your situation and assess if you are eligible to apply for an injunction.

The remainder of this article will deal with injunctions in Family law.

There are two significant types of injunction under the family law Act passed in 1996.

Occupation orders and non- molestation orders. Occupation orders deal with occupancy, who can live in your home and who can visit your home (and immediate surrounding area). This is often used if you and your partner can not live together and there is a possibility of violence. Non-molestation orders prevent a person from acting towards named persons in any way that jeopardises the health, well being or safety of those persons. Both these types of injunction can carry the power of arrest should the injunction be breached.

Who can take out an injunction?

You must be associated to the person you are taking out the injunction on, this means that you must be one of the following;

Married, in a civil partnership or divorced.

Are or have been living together.

Related.

Engaged or had been engaged.

Have a child for which you are both responsible.

Have had a significant relationship with.

If you are not covered by any of the above you can still take out an injunction: speak to a solicitor, they will most probably pursue an injunction under the Harassment Act. All these are designed to protect you and your rights, so if you feel at risk do seek advice.

First step -

Assuming you have decided to obtain legal advice, you should contact a solicitor that practices family law; you can find one through the search facility on this page. You may be eligible for legal aid (public funding), so you should check with the solicitor to ensure they hold a legal aid contract for family law should you qualify. If you are claiming any benefits or on a low income you may be eligible (ignore joint income if taking action against your partner).

Funding can be costly, you may wish to discuss the option of taking action under criminal law which in some cases will reduce or avoid the cost.

Court action -

Your injunction application will be heard in a court, this is quite often the family court but can be the high court; the process will be 'closed court', that is to say only those directly involved in the application can attend: the purpose of this is to retain privacy, you do have other rights for privacy and separation so speak to your solicitor if you are concerned about the process in anyway.

Time scale -

If you are in danger it is possible an injunction can be taken out the same day, termed as a 'without notice order'; if this order is permitted by the court you will have to return for a full hearing.

Preparing for court and the hearing -

You will need to collect all evidence: do not delete any texts or emails that will be needed; you will need to make a statement about the circumstances which have led to the application, in addition to the description of any act against you, you will need to provide details of dates, times and the effect on you and your family.

Provide as much evidence as you can, this may include medical records, police incidence reports and any eye witness statements.

When you are at court they will assess the impact of agreeing to the order and implications of not agreeing to the order, on all parties to the order.

In rare situations the court will suggest that an undertaking is made by the abuser, that they will stop any action mentioned in your evidence. The problem with this is that an undertaking cannot have the power of arrest attached to it, so whilst any breach will be in contempt of court, they are very difficult to enforce, the important point being that, as the applicant, you do not need to agree to an undertaking.

If your application is successful a copy will need to be handed to the other party.

The court will place a time limit in which the injunction is enforceable, this tends to be six months: if you need to extended this you can, the purpose of an injunction is not to provide a solution to a long term problem, but will allow you time to seek a long term solution in an acceptable environment.

Power of arrest and breach of the order -

If you have a problem after the injunction has been issued you should call the police and advise them that you have an injunction in place, in most cases your injunction will have attached the 'power of arrest'. If the abuser breaches the conditions, they can face fines or a custodial sentence.

Remember you have a responsibility not to contact the abuser.

If the police act on the breach, the abuser will appear before the courts within a day.

If your injunction does not have the power of arrest, you will need to return to the court for one, at which time the court may impose fines or other conditions because of the breach; if possible we would always recommend adding the power of arrest.

Remember that you can call the police at any time whether you have the power of arrest attached to your injunction or not.

Useful web sites.


protecting women and children against domestic violence

National domestic violence helpline