If the judge grants the order, it will list the exact conditions the person named in it must follow. A judge can make orders that ban your partner from:
- communicating with you directly or indirectly,
- distributing information about you or pictures of you,
- going to places where you or other family member(s) go, including a school, a business, or a home — even if your partner owns the home,
- following you or other family member(s), and
- having a weapon.
The judge could allow some communication, but with set guidelines. The judge can also:
- tell a police officer to go with you or your partner to your home so you or your partner can remove your personal belongings,
- take away weapons, and
- require your partner to report to court.
However, if your partner can show there’s no risk of violence, the judge can refuse to make a protection order.
If your application is refused, speak to your lawyer or duty counsel about reapplying for the family law protection order or about getting a conduct order.
A conduct order tells your partner what they can and cannot do in relation to you, your children, or anyone else affected by them. Unlike a protection order, there are no criminal consequences for not obeying a conduct order, so the judge may be more willing to order a conduct order than a protection order. If your partner breaches a conduct order, you have to go to court to enforce it. A judge may fine your partner, make a tougher conduct order, or decide to order a protection order.