Domestic Violence Act, 1996
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Safety order. |
2.—(1) (a) In this section— | |
“the applicant” means a person, other than a health board, who has applied or on whose behalf a health board has applied by virtue of section 6 for a safety order against another person (in this section referred to as “the respondent”) and the person so applying or on whose behalf the health board has so applied— | ||
(i) is the spouse of the respondent, or | ||
(ii) is not the spouse of the respondent but has lived with the respondent as husband or wife for a period of at least six months in aggregate during the period of twelve months immediately prior to the application for the safety order, or | ||
(iii) is a parent of the respondent and the respondent is a person of full age who is not, in relation to the parent, a dependent person, or | ||
(iv) being of full age resides with the respondent in a relationship the basis of which is not primarily contractual; | ||
“kindred”, in respect of two or more persons, means the relationship of each of those persons to the other person or to the rest of those persons by blood, adoption or marriage. | ||
(b) In deciding whether or not a person is residing with another person in a relationship the basis of which is not primarily contractual, the court shall have regard to— | ||
(i) the length of time those persons have been residing together, | ||
(ii) the nature of any duties performed by either person for the other person or for any kindred person of that other person, | ||
(iii) the absence of any profit or of any significant profit made by either person from any monetary or other consideration given by the other person in respect of residing at the place concerned, | ||
(iv) such other matters as the court considers appropriate in the circumstances. | ||
(2) Where the court, on application to it, is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the safety or welfare of the applicant or any dependent person so requires, it may, subject to section 7 , by order (in this Act referred to as a “safety order”) direct that the respondent to the application— | ||
(a) shall not use or threaten to use violence against, molest or put in fear the applicant or that dependent person, and | ||
(b) if he or she is residing at a place other than the place where the applicant or that dependent person resides, shall not watch or beset the place where the applicant or that dependent person resides, | ||
and the court may make such order subject to such exceptions and conditions as it may specify. | ||
(3) Where a safety order has been made, any of the following may apply to have it varied, that is to say: | ||
(a) if the application for the order was made by a health board in respect of any dependent person by virtue of section 6 — | ||
(i) the health board, | ||
(ii) the person referred to in subsection (1) (c) of that section, or | ||
(iii) the respondent to that application; | ||
(b) if the application for the order was made by a health board in any other case by virtue of section 6 — | ||
(i) the health board, | ||
(ii) the person who was the applicant for the order, or | ||
(iii) the respondent to that application; | ||
(c) in any other case— | ||
(i) the person who was the applicant for the order, or | ||
(ii) the person who was the respondent to the application for the order, and the court upon hearing any such application shall make such order as it considers appropriate in the circumstances. | ||
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), a safety order made by a court on appeal from another court shall be treated as if it had been made by that other court. | ||
(5) A safety order, if made by the District Court or by the Circuit Court on appeal from the District Court, shall, subject to subsection (6) (a) and section 13 , expire five years after the date of its making or on the expiration of such shorter period as the court may provide for in the order. | ||
(6) (a) On or before the expiration of a safety order to which subsection (5) relates, a further safety order may be made by the District Court or by the Circuit Court on appeal from the District Court for a period of five years, or such shorter period as the court may provide for in the order, with effect from the expiration of the first-mentioned order. | ||
(b) On or before the expiration of a safety order to which paragraph (a) does not relate, a further safety order may be made with effect from the expiration of the first-mentioned safety order. | ||
(7) Notwithstanding subsection (5), so much of a safety order as was made for the benefit of a dependent person shall expire in accordance with such order or upon such person ceasing to be a dependent person, whichever first occurs. | ||
(8) The court shall not make a safety order on an application for a barring order unless there is also an application for a safety order before the court concerning the same matter. |