What is an intervention order?
An intervention order is an order made by a court restraining the defendant from having certain types of contact with the person protected by the order. The defendant may also be prevented from attending at certain places including the protected person's residence or place of employment.
Intervention orders are made under the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009 (SA) and similar legislation in other states of Australia. They are what used to be known as restraining orders.
An Application for an intervention order can be made by the police on behalf of the protected person or by the protected person themselves.
It is appropriate for the Court to make an intervention order upon an application being made to them to do so, if it is reasonable to suspect that the defendant will commit an act of abuse against a person; and the issuing of the order is appropriate in the circumstances.
Why defend an intervention order?
A person who is served with an intervention order against them, making them the defendant in that order, is able to defend the order if they choose to do so.
The intervention order should be defended if there is insufficient reason for the order to be in place or if the protected person has been untruthful in the allegations they have made about the defendant to support the making of that order.
What it means to have an intervention order placed against you?
While an intervention order should not be recorded on a person's criminal record, it may show up on a police clearance check, which may then effect employment or other opportunities for which the applicant is required to obtain a satisfactory police clearance.
A person who is subject to an intervention order is usually unable to possess firearms even if they have a firearms licence.
What happens if an intervention order is breached?
Breaching an intervention order is considered a serious criminal offence such that having an intervention order in place can pose a risk in itself.
It is also apparent that an intervention order can impact on other court proceedings, in particular they may effect a family court's view about parenting arrangements.
Once an intervention order is made it will remain in place forever until a successful application is made by the defendant to remove the order.
How to successfully defend an intervention order?
A defendant can successfully defend an intervention order by showing the court that they do not pose a risk to the protected person.
We would suggest that you obtain legal representation to assist you with this.We are willing and able to assist people to defend intervention orders if they want to do so. Our Family Law team has helped many defendants to have intervention orders withdrawn or varied to include more suitable terms that are less restricting on their lives.
Andersons Solicitors' success in defending an intervention order
We have recently been successful in assisting a defendant to defend an intervention order brought by their former partner against them. In our view the application for the order was based on very little evidence of any alleged abuse by the defendant against the protected person. The prosecution refused to withdraw the intervention order and the matter proceeded to trial.
Evidence was taken from both parties over a number of days. We ensured that our client's case was well prepared and we engaged and assisted an experienced Barrister to represent them. Ultimately the Magistrate was not satisfied that it was appropriate for the intervention order to be confirmed and as such the order was revoked.
We are very pleased to have helped this client to successfully defend their intervention order and we will now endeavor to recover some of their legal costs for defending that order from prosecution.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
