Step 3
Attend court hearing for Safety Order, Barring Order or both
You will have received a summons for a Safety Order, Barring Order, or both. This will contain the date, time and venue of the court hearing for your long-term domestic violence order application.
You must show up in court on the appointed date and time. The respondent is also expected to attend this full hearing.
Both of you can give evidence to the court. This means you will have to take an oath and give relevant information about the application. Cross-examination may take place. This means answering questions from the other person. The judge will decide how this will happen. They may allow questions to be asked personally by the other person, or by a solicitor or barrister only.
After hearing the evidence the Judge will make a decision. They may decide to:
- Grant an order and set out its terms and conditions. This means they agree to give you the long-term order that you applied for. It also sets out details of how long it will last and other safety protections for you and any dependent child.
- Refuse the order. This means they do not agree to give you the long-term order that you applied for.
- Adjourn the application. This means postponing a decision on an application to a later date.
- Strike out the application. This means dismissing or cancelling an application. This can happen if the applicant or their solicitor fail to appear in court. It also means that any related protective orders, such as a Protection Order or Interim Barring Order, are also cancelled and no longer in place.
More information on preparing for Family Law court >
In some cases where children are involved, a judge might want information about their welfare, safety, health and care. If a child is of sufficient age and maturity, they might also want to take their views on board. To get this information, the judge might decide that they need a report from an expert.