Temporary domestic exclusion order

A temporary domestic exclusion order bars a person from their own home and from contact with the people who live there. It is imposed by the mayor, not by a criminal court, and it can be issued before any offence has been established. The purpose is to create breathing space in which help can be arranged.

Legal basis

The Temporary Domestic Exclusion Orders Act has been in force since 2009. The mayor may impose an order where a person’s presence poses a serious and immediate danger to the safety of a partner, a child or another member of the household, or where there is a serious suspicion of such danger. In practice the power is exercised by an assistant public prosecutor under a mandate, on the basis of a standardised risk assessment carried out on the spot. The order runs for ten days and can be extended to a maximum of twenty-eight days. Acting in breach of it is a criminal offence, so the two tracks can quickly meet.

How it works in practice

The order is handed over on the doorstep, often at night, and takes effect immediately. It covers entry to the home and any form of contact, including messages through third parties. Care services are notified and are expected to make contact with both sides within days. The person excluded can lodge an appeal with the administrative court and, because ten days is short, ask at the same time for a provisional measure, which is heard within days rather than months.

Where it goes wrong

Three points recur. First, the file: an order rests on the risk assessment and the officers’ observations, and where those are thin the court has room to intervene. Second, contact with children, which is often cut off entirely without any arrangement being made for the period of the order. Third, the interaction with family proceedings, because what happens during those four weeks tends to shape the later decision on where the children will live.