New Measures (Domestic Abuse Protection Orders and Domestic Abuse Protection Notices) have entered into force in trial areas, initially Greater Manchester and three London boroughs (Croydon, Sutton and Bromley).
The Home Office note:
“The Domestic Abuse Protection Notices can be issued by the police immediately following any incident of abuse, providing protection straight away and giving police time to apply for a Domestic Abuse Protection Order to secure longer term protection for the victim.
Unlike some existing protections, which can only be enforced for 28 days, the new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders will have no time restrictions, meaning victims are protected for as long as needed to stay safe. Breaching the order will be a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison, making sure perpetrators who flout the rules are punished.
Friends and family of victims will also be able to apply for the new orders on behalf of the victim, as well as victims themselves and the police. This will reduce victim engagement with the criminal justice system, if necessary – process which can be daunting for some survivors.
As well as imposing exclusion zones, the orders can mandate positive requirements such as attendance at a behaviour change programme.
For the first time, family courts able to impose tagging in the most serious cases, a power previously reserved for the police and criminal courts only”.
Minister for Victims and Violence Against Women and Girls, Alex Davies-Jones, said:
“It takes tremendous courage for victims of domestic abuse to seek help. Our role in government is to make this as straightforward as possible. These new orders reduce the pressure on victims by allowing third parties to make an application on their behalf, while ensuring the powers available to the courts are more stringent than ever before. This government will continue to do all it can to end violence against women and girls”.
Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Jess Phillips said:
“More than two million people are estimated to have experienced domestic abuse in the last year – a number that is appalling, frightening and we are determined to change.
That’s why one of our first acts to deliver against our ambitious manifesto pledge to halve violence against women and girls in a decade is to launch new, strengthened Domestic Abuse Protection Orders. By bringing together the strongest elements of existing orders into a flexible order that covers all forms of domestic abuse and has no time limit, we’ll ensure more victims receive the robust protection they deserve”.
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner said:
“Domestic Abuse Protection Orders were designed to bring together the most effective features of existing orders to provide flexible and long-term protection to victims of domestic abuse.
The DAPO pilot should evidence what is needed to sufficiently resource participating agencies and sector partners alike, so that it can be fully funded for a national rollout.
I look forward to closely following the pilot’s progress and see how DAPOs can improve the safety of domestic abuse victims and hold perpetrators to account across England and Wales”.
As part of the launch a raft of Guidance etc has been published, including from the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, and their Guidance notes:
“If you are a victim of domestic abuse or know somebody else who is, you may be able
What is a Domestic Abuse Protection Notice (DAPN)?
A DAPN is issued by the police to a perpetrator to provide immediate protection to victims of all forms of domestic abuse. A DAPN can be issued where the police officer considers there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person has been abusive towards another person who is aged 16 or over. The perpetrator must be aged 18 or over. The victim and the perpetrator must also be personally connected – for example, they are, or have been married or civil partners, are or were in a relationship or are related. DAPN contains specific instructions that the perpetrator must follow, such as staying away from a victim’s home.
The police will consider whether a DAPN is necessary to protect the victim from further domestic abuse or the risk of domestic abuse. If the police issue a DAPN, they will then also apply for a Domestic Abuse Protection Order (DAPO). A DAPO application will usually be heard by the magistrates’ court within 48 hours.
A DAPN is legally binding, and failure to follow its conditions could result in the perpetrator being arrested and brought before a magistrates’ court.
What is a Domestic Abuse Protection Order (DAPO)?
A DAPO can be made by the court to protect victims from all forms of domestic abuse, including non-physical abuse and controlling or coercive behaviour. A DAPO may be made by a court during ongoing criminal, family, or civil proceedings. Applications can also be made by the police, by a victim themselves or by someone who is not directly involved, known as a ‘third party’. A third party could include a family member, a friend, or a social worker.
DAPOs are protective orders and can be used to impose restrictions and conditions on a perpetrator of domestic abuse.
A prohibition is a rule that prevents someone from doing something. For example, this could include stopping a perpetrator from coming within a specified distance of a victim’s home and/or any specified premises, such as a workplace.
A DAPO will always include mandatory notification requirements. This means that a perpetrator subject to a DAPO must tell the police their name and address and tell the police of any changes to these. The perpetrator subject to a DAPO is required to first tell the police their name and address within 3 days of a DAPO being made, and after that, within 3 days of any changes to these.
The court may decide to impose electronic monitoring (known as ‘tagging’) on a perpetrator to monitor whether they are following certain rules of the DAPO, for example those that stop a perpetrator from coming within a specified distance of the victim’s home.
The court may also decide to impose a positive requirement that calls for the perpetrator to take positive action, such as attending a behaviour change programme.
How long does a DAPO last?
A DAPO has no minimum or maximum duration. The court will consider how long the DAPO needs to last to protect a victim from abuse or the risk of abuse and will specify the duration of the order when it makes a DAPO.
What happens if the conditions of the DAPO are not followed?
A DAPO is legally binding and breaking any of its rules is known as a breach. Breach of a DAPO is a criminal offence and should always be reported. If you are aware that any of the conditions or rules of a DAPO have been broken, you should contact the police.
When a breach of a DAPO is reported, the police will investigate it and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether the case will be charged as a criminal offence. The police will keep you informed about how the case progresses..”.
Responding to the development, Sophie Francis-Cansfield, Head of Policy at Women’s Aid, said:
“Today, the Ministry of Justice have announced the long overdue pilot launch of Domestic Abuse Protective Orders (DAPOs), which were first announced as part of the Domestic Abuse Act in 2021. This comes with a series of other requirements, including family courts being able to impose tagging on perpetrators in the most serious of cases. While Women’s Aid welcomes these protections, we have concerns over the implementation of these measures on the ground and the ability to ensure long-term safety for survivors of abuse through them.
Existing protective orders, such as Non-Molestation Orders and Restraining Orders, have been criticised for not adequately protecting survivors from further harm, as while in theory they serve to safeguard, a lack of awareness, monitoring, and robust response to breaches, means that perpetrator are able to act with impunity even when these orders are in place. While Women’s Aid supports the criminalisation of breaching a DAPO, survivors need to be able to trust there will be accountability for this and prosecutions will be pursued. Consistency in how the police and wider justice system deal with these orders and breaches of them is required to ensure survivors will be protected by these measures.
Allowing parties other than survivors to make DAPO applications will help family members and friends in taking action to protect their loved ones but there is a risk that in doing so, survivors will lose their autonomy and voice. It is not an easy decision for survivors to flee abuse and it can be extremely difficult for them to stay gone. It must be their choice to go and take action against their perpetrator, so that they can feel empowered. This is especially true when they have lost their freedom in the relationship, through coercive control. This element of DAPOs must be promoted as a collaborative process and not as one that concerned family members and friends explore without the survivor’s input.
The nature of domestic abuse means that the abuse does not just end when the relationship does. In fact, leaving and post-separation can be the most dangerous time for a survivor, as perpetrators retaliate to losing control. The implementation of Domestic Abuse Protection Notices, as a temporary measure while DAPOs can be obtained, will help to ensure that survivors are kept safe during the difficult post-separation period, if used properly. Specialist domestic abuse training for responding officers will be needed, so they can ensure they identify the situations where these preventative steps need to be taken.
Giving family courts the ability to impose tagging on perpetrators will also help to mitigate the risk to safety that survivors experience in the post-separation period, but we would like some clarification on which cases are considered the most serious. There is concern that this tagging measure, along with the criminalisation of DAPO breaches, has the potential to lead to an over-surveillance, which we know disproportionately impacts Black and Minoritised communities, so we call on agencies to take steps through these pilots to ensure discrimination is rooted out from the start, to prevent any disparity from happening.
These piloted measures do have the potential to protect women and children from abuse but only if properly implemented and monitored. We need to make sure that those who are responsible for these measures are properly trained on domestic abuse, so that they can effectively identify the cases where precautionary steps are needed, apply them consistently and work with local specialist services to ensure the survivors’ safety and needs are always prioritised.”
Additionally, the Judiciary and HMCTS have also issued new Guidance and Forms.
For the Home Office / MOJ Press Release see here.
The Home Office / MOJ Guidance can be accessed here.
The Home Office Statutory guidance for Police can be accessed here.
The Women’s Aid Press Release can be accessed here.
The Judiciary Guidance can be accessed here.
The following new forms can be accessed:
- Form DA1 (Apply for a domestic abuse protection order in a family court), here.
- Form DA2 (Ask for permission to apply for a domestic abuse protection order on behalf of someone else), here.
- Form DA3 (Apply to vary or discharge a domestic abuse protection order made in a family court), here.
- Form DA415 (Certificate of service for domestic abuse protection orders in a family court), here.
The HMCTS Guidance can be accessed here.
Original reporting by Family Law Week