Injunctions are court orders which might tell a person that they are not allowed to do a certain act. The common areas in which injunctions are applied are when one party is harassing, threatening or assaulting the other. These injunctions are known as 'Domestic Violence Injunctions'.
Such orders can prevent someone harassing or assaulting you (known as Non-Molestation Orders) or coming within a certain distance of your home or order someone to leave your home (known as Occupation Orders).
Married Couples
If you own property together, or if you have an interest in the property, or an agreement allowing you to live in the property. Or the law says you are entitled to live in the property because you have certain rights, for example, because you are married and the property is the matrimonial home, the following injunction orders can be applied for:
Non-Molestation Orders
This is an order to stop your partner 'molesting' you or your children. Molesting means harassing, pestering or interfering with you or your children in some way, and also includes assault. 'Assault' can mean pushing, punching, slapping, throwing objects, spitting at you etc.
Occupation Orders
These are orders which decide who should carry on living in the home in the short-term after there has been violence or harassment etc. The orders can include the following:
- Allow you to remain in the home if your partner is trying to get you out.
- Allow you back into the home if your partner has already thrown you out or is preventing you going back into the home.
- Exclude your partner from all or part of the home.
- Impose a set of rules about living in the home.
- State that you and your partner must live in separate parts of the home.
- State that you and your partner must live in separate parts of the home.
- Exclude your partner from coming within a certain distance of your home.
- Order your partner to leave the home or a part of it.
- If you do not own the property and have not paid towards the cost of the property you can obtain an order which says that you are still entitled to live in the property because you have 'matrimonial rights'. You can also get an order that this right will not end if your partner dies or you and your partner divorce. However, your partner can apply to the court to try and end your 'matrimonial rights' or restrict them.
Power of Arrest
This can be attached to an injunction and will give the police power to arrest your partner if he or she breaks the order. To obtain a power of arrest you need to show that your partner has used violence against you or has threatened to use violence and he or she is likely to do so again. The Police will enforce these powers direct.
Divorced Couples
If your ex-wife or husband has an interest in the property, or an agreement allowing them to live in the property. Or the law says they are entitled to stay in the property for certain reasons, such as the property was intended to be your matrimonial home, you can apply for the following orders:
- Non-Molestation Order - See married couples for definition.
- Occupation Order - See married couples for definition
Such orders can be:
- An order stopping your ex-wife / husband from evicting or excluding you from the property or part of it.
- An order allowing you to enter the property and live there if you have previously been excluded.
- Impose a set of rules about living in the property.
- Take away your ex-wife / husband's right to live in the property or part of it.
- Order your ex-wife / husband to leave the property or part if it.
- Exclude your ex-wife / husband from an area around the property.
For a Power of Arrest - See married couples for definition.
Unmarried Couples
If you own a property together, or you have an interest in the property in which you both live, or are allowed to live there because of an agreement. Or because the law says you have certain rights to live in the property, the following injunction orders can be applied for:
- Non-Molestation Order - See married couples for definition.
- Occupation Order - See married couples for definition.
Such orders can:
- Allow you to remain in the home if your partner is trying to get you out.
- Allow you back into the home if your partner has thrown you out or is preventing you going back into the home.
- Exclude your partner from all or part of the home.
- Impose a set of rules about living in the home.
- State that you or your partner must live in separate parts of the home.
- Exclude your partner from coming within a certain distance of your home.
- Order your partner to leave the home or part of it.
For a Power of Arrest - See married couples for definition.
If only your partner owns the property, or has an interest in the property, or is allowed to live in the property because of an agreement. Or because the law says your partner has certain rights to the property. The following injunction orders can be applied for:
- Non-Molestation Order - See married couples for definition.
- Occupation Order - See married couples for definition.
These orders can include:
- Preventing you from being excluded or evicted from the home or any part of it.
- Allowing you to return to the home and to continue to live there.
- Impose a set of rules about living in the home.
- Take away your partner's right to live in the property.
- Order your partner to leave part of the home or all of it.
- Exclude your partner from a defined area around the home.
For a Power of Arrest - See married couples for definition.
Where neither of you owns the property, or has an interest in the property, or is entitled to live in the property because of an agreement and you have no rights under the law, the following injunction orders can be applied for:
- Non-Molestation Order - See married couples for definition.
- Occupation Order - See married couples for definition.
These orders can include:
- Allowing you to return to the home and to continue to live there.
- Impose a set of rules about living in the home.
- Order your partner to leave the home or part of it.
- Exclude your partner from a defined area around the home.
For a Power of Arrest - See married couples for definition.
Other Couples
This includes relatives, civil partners, engaged couples, people involved in adoption proceedings, divorced couples, unmarried parents of a child, unmarried couples no longer living together.
Where you both own the property, or have an interest in the property, or an agreement which allows you to live in the property. Or because the law says you have certain rights to the property, the following injunction order can be applied for:
- Non-Molestation Order - See married couples for definition.
- Occupation Order - See married couples for definition
These can include:
- Allowing you to remain in the property.
- Allowing you back into the property if you are being prevented from returning to the property.
- Exclude the other occupant of the property from all or part of the property.
- Impose a set of rules about the occupation of the property
- State that you and the other occupant must live in separate parts of the property.
- Exclude the other occupant from coming within a certain distance of the property.
- Order the other occupant to leave the property or part of it.
For a Power of Arrest - See married couples for definition.
Where you do not own the property, and you have no interest in the property, and no agreement which allows you to live there and no legal right to the property, you can only apply for the following injunction orders:
- Non-Molestation Order - See married couples for definition.
- Occupation Order - See married couples for definition