Are you scared for your safety or feel intimidated by another individual? Do you feel threatened, mentally and physically, by your domestic partner or spouse? Has someone been stalking, harassing, and threatening you continuously?
If you have faced such behaviour, you must contact experienced lawyers to help you apply for apprehended violence orders to protect you from intimidation and harassment.
Such orders protect people from the defendant (the accused person) by preventing them from coming near them, home, or the workplace. However, before applying for such an order, it is crucial to decide which kind of AVO is suitable for one.
And that is why a person requires experienced lawyers to help them in such matters. They possess the knowledge to help one choose the relevant violence order and handle its processes. An attorney’s role assumes greater importance once the court proceedings begin, and evidence must be produced before the court.
But what facts related to such orders should a person know beforehand, and how can an attorney help the victim? Read on to find out.
How can AVOs help?
As mentioned above, apprehended violence orders refer to orders made by the Courts to protect an individual from stalking, intimidation, harassment, or further abuses. The ruling comes into effect when the police serve it to the defendant.
The defendant is the accused against whom the order is issued, while the protected person is known as the person in need of protection (PINOP).
Types of violence orders
AVOs are primarily of two types: Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO) and Apprehended Personal Violence Order (APVO).
ADVO becomes applicable in cases where the two parties share a domestic relationship like husband and wife, relative, or someone with whom the person has an intimate relationship. The accused might live in the same household as the PINOP without being a tenant.
APVO is meant for cases where the defendant does not have a domestic relationship with the person, like coworkers, neighbours, or acquaintances. It also includes any unknown person indulging in threatening behaviour and harassment.
Ways a lawyer can help the victim
A person should immediately seek legal help when harassed and intimidated by their domestic partner, coworker, neighbour, or other non-domestic partners.
The attorney will help the victim make an application at the local court since that will minimise the chances of the application being cancelled by the court for some reason.
In some instances, the lawyer can also ask the judge to include additional conditions like:
- preventing the defendant from approaching the victim (the Protected Person) at the workplace
- meeting the client after consuming alcohol or drugs
- further conditions agreed by both the parties involved in the case
The legal practitioner will also help their client if the defendant breaches one of the conditions mentioned in the apprehended violence order. Breaching a court-issued order is a criminal offence, and one should inform their lawyer and the police if they suspect the defendant of breaching a condition.
However, in cases where the accused does not agree to the violence orders, the magistrate will decide if the situation warrants an order of this type. Your lawyer can request an Interim Apprehended Violence Order till the hearing. It is crucial to hire a lawyer while applying for apprehended violence orders since they will assist you with the entire process and make it less troublesome. They will represent you at the court proceedings and see to it that you receive the full benefits of justice.