​If you need a Protection Order

Protection Orders and Police Safety Orders
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The main piece of legislation in the Family Court addressing violence between adults is the Family Violence Act 2018.  Family violence includes physical violence, sexual violence and psychological/emotional violence (e.g. stalking, harassment, verbal abuse, economic abuse, controlling or manipulative behaviour, threats, belittling, etc.). More recently the terminology "family harm" has been favoured by Police and other sector agencies.

If you are being abused and need help, our Legal Response Team can put you in touch with the right people to support you, as well as arrange for a lawyer if you need a Protection Order. Legal aid is available for clients needing help with family violence.

Other help (including financial assistance) is available and Women's Refuge has some excellent advice here. You can call their Crisisline on 0800 REFUGE (0800 733 843).

When Police attend a family violence incident it is possible for them to issue a Police safety order (PSO) when they believe family violence has occurred or may occur. A PSO is a short term order issued by Police that lasts between one to ten days.

​The person named in the PSO (bound person) must leave the address even if it is owned by the person or is where they usually live. The bound person must not subject the protected person (or their children) to any further violence or harassment. The bound person must not encourage anyone else to abuse or harass the protected person on their behalf.
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​Unlike PSOs, protection orders are issued by the Court. This requires a court application and an affidavit. The Court needs to know whether there is a domestic or close personal relationship; what violence has occurred and; why a court order is necessary.

An application is filed, served on the other person – who has a chance to reply – and if the application is defended then a hearing is held for a Judge to determine any disputed facts and decide if the order is necessary.

In urgent situations (and this is what leads to most applications being made) an application and affidavit may be filed and seen quickly by a Judge. The Judge will make a decision about whether a temporary protection order (TPO) should be issued so there is immediate protection for the applicant and the children of the family. The Judge needs to be satisfied that the delay that might be caused by applying on notice (the standard process) might place the applicant or the children of the family at serious risk of injury, harm or undue hardship. The other party still has the chance to respond and have the matter heard in Court if someone opposes a permanent order .

In some situations (particularly when there are children) it is possible to apply for property orders permitting exclusive occupation of the home and use of the furniture (including to furnish a new home) by the protected person.

Under the Care of Children Act the Court must take into account the children’s safety. This includes exposure to family violence as well as whether there are past protection orders involving other people. If the Court believes a child is unsafe with their parent then the Court can direct supervised contact. This might be supervised by a family member or by a professional person or organisation.

​Depending on the situation, there is limited funding through the Court to pay for supervised contact but this is only intended to be a short term solution and is often for the purpose of receiving a report from the supervisor.

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"What happens when someone is served with a Protection Order?"

Temporary protections orders (those issued 'without notice'/under urgency) will normally be served on a respondent by the NZ Police.

Once served with a temporary protection order the first thing the person needs to do is read it, understand it and do what it says.

​Along with the protection order there will be an order to attend a non-violence programme. Our lawyers will almost always recommend

recommend Respondents to contact the provider and attend the programme.

They have the right to defend the order. If they don't defend the order then after three months the order will automatically become final.

If a permanent protection order is made against then they may apply to the Family Court to have it discharged.

Defending or discharging a protection order - like anything involving the Court - is not as straightforward as it sounds., particularly if the Respondents tries to self-represent.
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People are entitled to make Applications themselves and to self-represent in Court but this is not as straightforward as it seems. Getting legal advice from a specialist family lawyer is better for both the Respondent and the Applicant.

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More information that could be helpful...

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