Domestic Violence Act 2018

• Enactment Date: 08 May 2018
• Act Number: 6

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Number 6 of 2018

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 2018

REVISED

Updated to 10 February 2021

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This Revised Act is an administrative consolidation of the Domestic Violence Act 2018. It is prepared by the Law Reform Commission in accordance with its function under the Law Reform Commission Act 1975 (3/1975) to keep the law under review and to undertake revision and consolidation of statute law.

All Acts up to and including the Health (Amendment) Act 2021 (1/2021), enacted 7 March 2021, and all statutory instruments up to and including the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 (Commencement) Order 2021 (S.I. No. 53 of 2021), made 9 February 2021, were considered in the preparation of this Revised Act.

Disclaimer: While every care has been taken in the preparation of this Revised Act, the Law Reform Commission can assume no responsibility for and give no guarantees, undertakings or warranties concerning the accuracy, completeness or up to date nature of the information provided and does not accept any liability whatsoever arising from any errors or omissions. Please notify any errors, omissions and comments by email to

revisedacts@lawreform.ie.

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Number 6 of 2018

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 2018

REVISED

Updated to 10 February 2021

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Introduction

This Revised Act presents the text of the Act as it has been amended since enactment, and preserves the format in which it was passed.

Related legislation

This Act is not collectively cited with any other Act.

Annotations

This Revised Act is annotated and includes textual and non-textual amendments, statutory instruments made pursuant to the Act and previous affecting provisions.

An explanation of how to read annotations is available at

www.lawreform.ie/annotations.

Material not updated in this revision

Where other legislation is amended by this Act, those amendments may have been superseded by other amendments in other legislation, or the amended legislation may have been repealed or revoked. This information is not represented in this revision but will be reflected in a revision of the amended legislation if one is available.

Where legislation or a fragment of legislation is referred to in annotations, changes to this legislation or fragment may not be reflected in this revision but will be reflected in a revision of the legislation referred to if one is available.

A list of legislative changes to any Act, and to statutory instruments from 1972, may be found linked from the page of the Act or statutory instrument at

www.irishstatutebook.ie.

Acts which affect or previously affected this revision

• Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 (32/2020)

• Fines Act 2010 (8/2010)

All Acts up to and including Health (Amendment) Act 2021 (1/2021), enacted 7 March 2021, were considered in the preparation of this revision.

Statutory instruments which affect or previously affected this revision

• Domestic Violence Act 2018 (Commencement) Order 2018 (S.I. No. 532 of 2018)

All statutory instruments up to and including Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 (Commencement) Order 2021 (S.I. No. 53 of 2021), made 9 February 2021, were considered in the preparation of this revision.

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Number 6 of 2018

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 2018

REVISED

Updated to 10 February 2021

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Acts Referred to

Age of Majority Act 1985 (No. 2)

Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 (No. 15)

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (No. 64)

Broadcasting Act 2009 (No. 18)

Child Care Act 1991 (No. 17)

Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 (No. 32)

Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 (No. 31)

Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 (No. 24)

Civil Registration Act 2004 (No. 3)

Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961 (No. 39)

Courts Act 1964 (No. 11)

Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 (No. 32)

Courts of Justice Act 1953 (No. 32)

Criminal Damage Act 1991 (No. 31)

Criminal Evidence Act 1992 (No. 12)

Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 (No. 50)

Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 (No. 28)

Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 (No. 32)

Domestic Violence (Amendment) Act 2002 (No. 30)

Domestic Violence Act 1996 (No. 1)

Family Home Protection Act 1976 (No. 27)

Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996 (No. 33)

Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act 1976 (No. 11)

Family Law Act 1995 (No. 26)

Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 (No. 7)

Housing (Private Rented Dwellings) Acts 1982 and 1983

Interpretation Act 2005 (No. 23)

Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act 1989 (No. 6)

Landlord and Tenant Acts 1967 to 2008

Mediation Act 2017 (No. 27)

Mental Health Act 2001 (No. 25)

Mercantile Marine Act 1955 (No. 29)

National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 (No. 47)

Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 (No. 26)

Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2015

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Number 6 of 2018

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 2018

REVISED

Updated to 10 February 2021

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An Act to consolidate the law on domestic violence; to provide for emergency barring orders in certain circumstances; to provide for evidence to be given through television link in certain proceedings; to provide for the right of an applicant to be accompanied in certain proceedings; to provide for the obtaining of the views of a child in certain proceedings; to provide for the giving of information on support services to victims of domestic violence; to provide for the making of recommendations for engagement with certain services by respondents; to provide for restrictions on those present in court during certain proceedings; to prohibit the publication or broadcast of certain matters; to provide for an offence of forced marriage; to repeal provisions for exemption, in certain cases, from minimum age requirements for marriage; for those and other purposes to repeal the Domestic Violence Act 1996 and the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Act 2002 and to provide for the consequential amendment of certain other enactments; and to provide for related matters

[8th May, 2018]

Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows:

PART 1

Preliminary and General

1.

Short title and commencement

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Domestic Violence Act 2018.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions, and for the repeal of different enactments or provisions of enactments effected by section 3.

Annotations:

Editorial Notes:

E1

Power pursuant to subs. (2) exercised (1.01.2019) by Domestic Violence Act 2018 (Commencement) Order 2018 (S.I. No. 532 of 2018).

2. The 1st day of January 2019 is appointed as the day on which the Domestic Violence Act 2018 (No. 6 of 2018) shall come into operation.

2.

Interpretation

2. (1) In this Act—

“Act of 1964” means the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964;

“Act of 1976” means the Family Home Protection Act 1976;

“Act of 1991” means the Child Care Act 1991;

“Act of 1995” means the Family Law Act 1995;

“Act of 1996” means the Domestic Violence Act 1996;

“Act of 2004” means the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004;

“Act of 2010” means the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010;

“Act of 2013” means the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013;

“Agency” means the Child and Family Agency;

“applicant” has the meaning assigned to it by section 6, section 7 or section 9, as the case may be, and where—

(a) an interim barring order has been made the applicant for the barring order to whom the interim barring order relates shall be deemed to be the applicant for that interim barring order, and

(b) a protection order has been made the applicant for the safety order or the barring order to whom the protection order relates shall be deemed to be the applicant for that protection order;

“barring order” has the meaning assigned to it by section 7(2);

“child” means a person who has not attained the age of 18 years other than a person who is or has been married;

“civil partner” has the meaning assigned to it by section 3 of the Act of 2010 and for the purposes of this Act includes a person who was a civil partner in a civil partnership that has been dissolved under the Act of 2010 but does not include a person who was in a civil partnership that has been dissolved by reason only of the application of section 109A of the Act of 2010;

“civil proceedings under this Act” means—

(a) proceedings relating to an application for the making, variation or discharge of a safety order, a barring order or an emergency barring order,

(b) proceedings, consequent on the making of an application for a barring order, for the making, variation or discharge of an interim barring order which relates to the application,

(c) proceedings, consequent on the making of an application for a safety order or a barring order, for the making, variation or discharge of a protection order which relates to the application,

(d) proceedings by way of appeal or case stated which are related to proceedings to which paragraph (a), (b) or (c) applies;

“court” means the District Court or the Circuit Court;

“dependent person”, in relation to the applicant or the respondent or both of them, as the case may be, means any child—

(a) of the applicant and the respondent or in respect of whom the applicant and the respondent are in loco parentis,

(b) of the applicant or in respect of whom the applicant is in loco...