 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Legal Information
My Sisters Place Offers:
In House Legal Assistance – This service provides service users with legal options and remedies and provides an opportunity to discuss the legal issues surrounding domestic violence. Legal issues may vary from protective Orders such as Injunctions under the Family Law Act 1996 to Residency of children and Contact arrangements under the Children Act 1989. In some cases criminal and civil matters may arise and in house legal assistance provides support in deciding which route is best for each individual.
Solicitor Referrals – There are a number of solicitors who currently provide surgeries for My Sisters Place. Appointments with those solicitors can be arranged to take place at My Sisters Place and support can be provided where requested. For those solicitors who provide surgeries see our Surgery Rota.
Support at Court – If a case proceeds to a hearing either criminal or civil My Sisters Place will support you through this process. As part of our Support at Court service My Sisters Place liaise with the Witness Service and Teesside Combined and Magistrate Courts to provide women with access to special measures. Special measures can include access to the witness room, pre court visits and support from one of My Sisters Place support workers.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q1. What is an Injunction? An Injunction is an Order designed to protect people who experience domestic violence in an intimate relationship. There are two types of injunction:
Q2. Who can apply for an Injunction? There are certain restrictions on who can apply for an injunction. The person applying for the Injunction (applicant) and the person the Injunction is to be against (respondent) must be “associated persons”. Married couples, cohabitants, relatives and parents of the same child are all associated persons. E.g. A is living with B and they have a child together but are not married. A and B are associated persons. On the other hand C and D are in a relationship but do not live together, they do not have children and therefore are not associated persons.
Q3. Does my partner have to know I am seeking an injunction? This depends entirely on the circumstances. Courts do have powers to make injunctions on an emergency basis without the perpetrator knowing. Specific factors must be taken into account by the court before this can happen such as timescales; any immediate risk to the applicant or relevant children or any danger of such risk if the Order is not in place or the perpetrator knows the applicant is seeking an Order. The perpetrator would be served with a copy of the Order before it is enforceable, this would also include notice of a further hearing whereby the respondent can attend.
If the court will not grant the Injunction on an emergency basis, the application for an Injunction will have to be made “On notice”. This means that the perpetrator will receive a copy of the Injunction application and be put “On notice” of your intentions. A hearing date and time will be fixed for both parties to attend court usually within two weeks of the application. After considering both parties representations the court will then make a decision whether or not to grant the injunction.
Q4. What if there are further incidents before my case comes to court? You can phone the Police immediately and let your solicitor know what has happened further incidents my mean that if you could not apply on an emergency basis before you are now entitled to do so.
Q5. What if the respondent doesn’t abide by the injunction? If the Injunction is granted and the other party ignores the Order and continues their campaign of harassment, they are breaching the Order and you can apply to the court to have them committed to prison. If there have been threats or use of physical violence what is known as a Power of Arrest is more likely than not to have been attached to the Order. This gives the Police the power to arrest the respondent if the applicant reports the breach. In this instance you need to contact the Police and explain that you have an Injunction with a Power of Arrest attached. The Police will have a copy of the Power of Arrest on their records. Yu should also let your solicitor know to discuss the best course of action i.e. returning to Court to have the respondent committed to prison as soon as it is convenient to do so.
Q6. What if I can’t face the other party in court? If you are able to apply for the Order on an emergency basis you will not come face to face with the perpetrator at this stage. They will only be n attendance if they choose to attend at the return hearing date, unfortunately it is in the best interests of your application for you to attend and by this time you should be protected by the Order should he try t intimidate you. If you have not accessed My Sisters Place or other support services then you can contact then for Support at Court or take a third party to court with you.
Q7. What if I am not entitled to apply or my application is refused? There are other forms of protection available i.e. Undertakings and Restraining Orders which you can discuss with your solicitor or through in house legal assistance if the situation arises. If you apply for an Injunction on an emergency basis and it is refused there is nothing to stop you applying for the Order on notice, it is unlikely an Order would be refused and no further on notice hearing listed.
Q8. What if I want time to think about things? If you want time to think about things and are unsure of what you want to do, this is absolutely fine however if you wish to apply on an emergency basis there are time constraints and you are more likely to succeed in your application the closer it is to the last incident. | |||
