South Africa - To Apply for a domestic violence protection order

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Procedure

Apply In-Person:

1. To apply for a Domestic Violence protection order in person, the applicant has to visit the nearest Magistrates Court or any nearest police station in his/her province.
2. The contact and address details of the Magistrate Courts (Lower Courts) can be found in the following link: Link
3. Find the address of the office applicable to your location and pay a visit to the office to lodge an application to apply for a Domestic Violence protection order.
4. First, the applicant has to obtain and complete an application for Interim Protection order (Form 6) from the court.
5. Then, obtain the Application to apply for a Domestic Violence protection order from the concerned department at the office or click here to download: Link
6. Make sure that you have all the documents listed in the “Required documents” section of this page.
7. Complete the application form with relevant details as required and attest it with your signature and date of application.
8. Attach all the documents required with the form and certify the form with the clerk of court, then submit it to the clerk of the court or office that you visit.
9. The clerk will check if all the furnished details and attached documents are found in order and forward it to the Magistrate.
10. Then, he/she will inform you the date on which you have to be present at the court and send a notice to the Respondent about the order and intimation to be present at the court.
11. On the day of appearance, after the trial, the Magistrate shall issue the Domestic violence protection order to the applicant.

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Required Documents

• Completed application form
• Interim Order Application
• Supporting affidavits by victim or applicant
• Certified copies of ID (if required)

Office Locations & Contacts

Department of Justice and Constitutional Development Head Office
Physical Adsress: Momentum Centre, 329
Pretorius Street,
Pretoria,
0001
South Africa
Postal Adsress:Private Bag X81
Pretoria,
0001
South Africa
Tel: 080 002 0007
Email:[email protected]
Website link

Eligibility

• Any person, major or minor, who is subjected to any form of abuse which includes physical, sexual, emotional, psychological or economic harassment or harms in any other forms, can request for a DV protection order.
• A counsellor, Health worker, Policeman, Social worker or a Teacher can also apply on behalf of the victim with a written consent of the victim.
• Any person or volunteer, who has concern about the victim, can also apply on behalf of the victim.

Fees

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development offers the service free of charge.

Validity

The order is valid until the abused person cancels it.

Documents to Use

Domestic Violence protection order application form: Link
Notice to complainant in a case of domestic violence: Link

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

A protection order may be obtained on the same day, but generally, this depends on the complexity of your case.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

• Applications for a protection order can be made at a Magistrates Court nearest to where you live and work, at any time, during and outside court hours as well as on public holidays or weekends.
• The application must be made by way of an affidavit which states the facts on which the application is based, the nature of the order applied for and the name of the police station where the complainant is likely to report any breach of the protection order applied for.
• In case if the application is brought on behalf of a complainant by another person, the affidavit must state the grounds on which the other person has a material interest in the well-being of the complainant and the occupation of the other person and capacity in which such a person brings the application.
• It should also be comprised of the written consent of the complainant, except in cases where the complainant is a minor, mentally retarded, unconscious or a person whom the court is satisfied that he or she is unable to provide the required consent.

Required Information

• Particulars of the complainant
• Particulars of the applicant
• Particulars of the Respondent
• Details of the people affected by Domestic violence
• Details about the domestically violent acts
• Reasons if there is any emergency
• Personal property details

Need for the Document

A protection order is essential when the victim wants protection against the harms caused by the abuser legally, by which the victim is prevented from the harmful actions and abuses of the abuser or the accused.

Information which might help

A domestic violence protection order is a document issued by the court which prevents the abuser from:

• committing an act of domestic violence
• enlisting the help of another person to commit any such act
• entering a residence shared by the complainant and the respondent
• entering a specified part of such a shared residence
• entering the complainant’s residence
• entering the complainant’s place of employment
• preventing the complainant who ordinarily lives or lived in a shared residence from entering or remaining in the shared residence or a specified part of the shared residence or
• Committing any other act as specified in the protection order.

For more information, refer the link: Link

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

Place some external links which might help.

Others

More information which might help people.