New research article: Protection orders for domestic violence (4 June 2020)

Senior Research Fellow Dr Lis Bates published a new article in early June on the use of protection orders to combat domestic violence in England and Wales:

Lis Bates and Marianne Hester (2020), ‘No longer a civil matter? The design and use of protection orders for domestic violence in England and Wales’, Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law

The article is timely as it makes recommendations about the Government’s new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders which are introduced in the Domestic Abuse Bill currently before Parliament – it has already been picked up by NGOs lobbying on the Bill. 

Drawing on interviews with survivors and on police records, the paper reviews the range of orders available to protect those experiencing abuse. The authors conclude that over the last 10 years there has been a shift away from predominantly civil orders applied for by the victim/survivor, towards orders proactively issued by police and the criminal courts, often with breach automatically a criminal offence. So in 2020, a wide range of orders are available which can be issued in a range of criminal and civil proceedings.

The paper identifies positives from this shift. This range of orders enables police to act without relying solely on the victim/survivor to provide evidence. It allows orders to be made sometimes at a lower (civil) burden of proof ‘on the balance of probabilities’, which may be a better fit with the nature of domestic violence offending. Such orders make a powerful statement to victims/survivors and perpetrators that the offence is severe and compliance will be enforced. Victims/survivors seem to welcome the wider range of orders on offer; but the authors warn that many still want civil options such as non-molestation orders – because victims/survivors apply for these themselves, they can choose when and how to seek protection.

The authors also found a number of problems with the current landscape. Most notably, enforcement of breach of orders was patchy and inconsistent. Police were often not notified when an order was issued by the courts and as a consequence were unable to enforce breach. Some police were unclear about their powers to enforce breach. The authors argue that the Domestic Abuse Bill gives the Government an opportunity to address this worrying gap in current procedures and practice and make sure that police are routinely notified by the courts that an order has been made and served. 

The paper concludes that the Government’s proposals for rationalising the current regime under a single, new, flexible Domestic Abuse Protection Order are a “welcome simplification”, but warn against simply “shuffling the deckchairs”. The authors call for “a commitment by the police and CPS (perhaps underpinned by national guidance) to prosecute substantive offences where these also constitute breach of an order, rather than only prosecuting for breach.”

The full article can be accessed for free here

Lis can be contacted here