If someone has applied to have a family violence intervention order or a personal safety intervention order made against you, the police will give you a copy of the application and a summons. The application details in detail what the applicant says you have done, and the summons contains details about your court hearing.
Remember, you are not being charged with a crime if an intervention order is placed against you. It is a civil proceeding, and you will not get a criminal record.
In court
You are the ‘respondent’. The police may serve other documents, including a family violence safety notice, an interim intervention order, a warrant for your arrest, or a final intervention order notice. Obviously if there is a warrant for your arrest, you will be arrested at that time.
How to behave in court and if you are arrested
You are probably angry and frustrated. That’s normal. What you should do is try to keep your feelings to yourself in court, and not abuse any person in the court, or the police, or the applicant. It doesn’t look good on your public record. Judges don’t like it when you disrupt their courtroom.
You will get your day in court, and with a good lawyer, be able to fight your case in peace, with reasoned arguments, polish and poise.
Receiving an application and summons
You will be delivered these in person by the police, and if you aren’t home when they come around, they are able to leave it with another person who is aged 16 and over who appears to live there.
Anyone who believes they are in danger from you (emotionally, physically, sexually) can apply for an intervention order. This could be the police, a parent or guardian, children, or a partner.
Receiving the interim order
An interim intervention order may arrive with the application and summons, and means the magistrate has seen the application and believes the person who applied for it needs protecting from you until the court can determine it at a later date. An interim order only starts when the paperwork has been delivered to you by the police, even if you argue later.
If you break the interim order, you can be arrested and charged with a criminal offence.
Warrants for your arrest
If you seriously threaten a person’s safety, you can be arrested via an arrest warrant. You will probably be released on bail if you agree to the bail conditions (which are usually the same as an intervention order), and promise to go to court on your allocated day for your hearing.
You must show up in court no matter what. If you don’t show up, you will lose your bail money, be charged anyway (failure to appear in court is a crime), be arrested again and kept in custody, and ordered to pay court costs.
How to approach this situation from a legal standpoint
You must attend court, and it’s very likely that you need some very good legal advice for this process – bail applications, courtroom decorum, and advice on how to manage your impending intervention order all need considering. If you don’t have a lawyer, contact Vanessa Ash for expert legal advice.
You can agree with or disagree with an order, and the order can still be made without you there. It’s better if you are there.
Write your own story. Call Vanessa Ash and Associates today.