Page 4956 - Week 17 - Tuesday, 11 December 1990
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orders is limited in scope, cumbersome, and sometimes ineffective, and does not provide adequate protection for the victims of threats, violence and property damage.
Keep-the-peace orders are made in the form of a recognisance where the respondent pays a bond, and an order is made which prohibits the respondent from engaging in certain behaviour and being in certain places. If the respondent fails to comply with the recognisance, he or she must be brought before the court again so that the court may find that the amount of the recognisance has been forfeited. Because breach of recognisance is not in itself an offence, the police cannot arrest the person for breaching an order to keep the peace, and the complainant must bring a further action to enforce the order.
Other problems with the existing provisions include delays, the lack of interim protection, and the limited range of people who may bring applications. Further, the orders are not available in respect of intimidation and harassment. The result of inadequacies in the current legislation is that, while the institution of keep-the-peace proceedings, where available, often leads to the defendant refraining from the apprehended conduct, it does not provide an effective deterrent in many cases.
This Bill will provide for a more effective, speedier and less cumbersome regime for the protection of victims of violence, threats, harassment, intimidation, and property damage in non-domestic situations. These amendments are modelled on the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act, which have proved extremely effective in the prevention of violence in domestic relationships. Under these amendments, an application for a keep-the-peace order may be made by an aggrieved person, an aggrieved person's relative, or a police officer. Where an aggrieved person is a child, an application may be brought by a parent or guardian, or a person who normally lives with the child, or the child may bring the application in his or her own right and would receive legal assistance.
Where the court is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that a person has caused or has threatened to cause personal injury or damage to property, or has behaved in a provocative or offensive manner, the court may make an order restraining that person from such conduct and may impose certain conditions and prohibitions. For instance, the court would be able to make an order that the defendant is prohibited from approaching, contacting, harassing, threatening or intimidating the aggrieved person. It will also be possible for the court to recommend counselling and conflict resolution services where appropriate.
Importantly, the Bill allows the court to give interim protection where it considers this is necessary to ensure the aggrieved person's safety. A breach of an order will no longer simply result in a forfeiture of money, but will be a criminal offence punishable by a $1,000 fine, imprisonment for six months, or both.
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