Types of Protective Orders in Domestic Violence

Domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of behavior in a relationship, used for gaining or maintaining control and power over the partner. Such violence includes abuse such as emotional, sexual, physical, or psychological actions that influence another person. This type of violence can happen to any person of any age, race gender, religion, or sexual orientation.

To prevent the abuser from engaging in any future contact, protective orders are requested by the victim or both the parties from the court. A protective order is an order that is authorized by a judge that prohibits one person/party from having any type of contact with the person who is protected. To request the protection order, victims generally take the help of domestic violence lawyers. Those who have fear of domestic violence, or are victims of it, consult such lawyers to help them request a protective order.

Protection orders are legal interventions that prohibit the respondent from being in close physical immediacy or contacting the petitioner. It is designed for reducing the risk of future threat or harm by the person who is determined for posing a threat to another. As per the protective orders, the respondent may also have to vacate the family home as well as surrender the shared property, like vehicles. The protective orders in domestic violence that are available to spouses consist of:

Temporary Protective Orders:-

These are protective orders that are available through the courts and are usually issued in emergency situations. These orders need submission of testimony and the paperwork before a judge that describes the need for protection. A judge can issue this type of protective order even without notifying the respondent or even in his/her absence at the first hearing.

In temporary protective orders, the judge makes the decision for providing the order, which will last from 20 – 25 days before any further court appearance. Such type of protective order can also be converted to a long-term order after a hearing by the judge where the respondent is not just notified but is given the chance to respond to his/her allegations in the petition. After the issue of temporary protective orders, the court generally conducts a hearing to decide that either the temporary protective orders should or needs to be extended to a permanent restraining order or not.

Emergency Protective Orders:-

Emergency protective orders are the orders that remain in effect only for a matter of days. These protective orders can only be issued through law enforcement directly.  Emergency protective orders are requested by the police when the officers respond to a 911 call that involves domestic violence. In such protective orders, the judge is requested by the officer to provide emergency protection. In the request, the officers show that the alleged victim is in danger due to domestic violence and an emergency protective order is essential to avert the danger. These orders are used by domestic violence lawyers to provide immediate protection to their clients as they are effective immediately and last up to seven days. This type of protective order helps the victim to protect himself/herself until the matter will proceed to court and will get addressed there.

Permanent Protective Order:-

As the name suggests permanent protective orders are the longest protective orders that can last up to five years. Permanent protective orders are issued by a judge, usually during the court appearance, which got scheduled upon the receipt of a temporary protective order. The decision regarding them is taken during the hearing on a temporary restraining order, in which it is decided by the court that either the extended protection should be provided to the petitioner, or not.

Report this Page