Jumping through hoops to get barring order

URSULA REGAN is a family law solicitor and former chairperson of Women’s Aid working at the coalface of domestic violence while striving to change the systems put in place to deal with it.

She believes domestic violence legislation is robust but the lack of resources available to implement it mean her clients cannot rely on the law to protect them.

Meanwhile, society’s failure to understand the mentality of victims can prevent them from speaking out.

“It is very easy to take a stand and ask ‘Why didn’t you leave?’ But when you have somebody who was so beaten, so demoralised they are on the ground and to take any decision, well, they are just not capable.”

Those who decide to battle with the system face a two-step process. First they apply for a hearing and wait to appear in court. The system is blighted by delays.

“In the Dublin jurisdiction there are two courts sitting in Dolphin house on a daily basis and they have an enormous workload.

“They deal with approximately 18 applications per day from custody, barring orders to judicial separations. You are only going to allow about 20 minutes to hear each one and that is not enough to detail a case of domestic violence.”

Rural district courts do not have the same volume of family law cases but other demands leave little space for barring order matters.

“Domestic violence cases are usually grouped with other matters, but because criminal cases will always get precedent it is not rare that you could be there until eight or nine o’clock waiting for a case to be heard.”

“Family law is, by and large, not taken in open court it is very often taken in a judge’s chambers and a judge’s chambers could be a grotty room. The staff are excellent but they can only do so much.”

The process itself starts before any meeting in judge’s chambers and such are the delays only the strong willed get that far.

It begins when a victim of domestic violence enters court to make an application for a hearing or a protection order. This will be made with the court clerk or at Dolphin House in exposed cubicles beside other victims. Notification is then sent to the accused.

“The time between the granting of the initial protection order and the hearing of the application of the barring order is eight to 10 weeks and that is no reflection on the judiciary, but just the workload.

“That is an appalling situation for the victim of domestic violence to find themselves in to be living under the one roof, a protection order has been granted but they still have to go home. It is very dangerous time to live in it and the level of pressure an abused person will come under not to proceed or to drop the case before it even gets to court is unreal.

“The level of threat, the level of social pressure, the family pressure, the level of ‘if you go ahead with this barring order, I’ll give up my job’ or ‘if you go ahead with it, I’ll go to Mountjoy, do you want to bring the children up to Mountjoy?’.

As the 10-week wait ticks down, women who turn up in court, even in Dublin’s dedicated family law building, will sit all day waiting in an area with only one female toilet, no childcare facilities and no victim support. Time restraints are such the details of the case must be addressed quickly and it is the victim’s responsibility to bring all relevant evidence.

“What a judge is looking for, in circumstances where you have physical abuse is the level of treatment, ongoing residual difficulties and whether there is a history of violence.”

In Ms Regan’s experience, pressure on the day or the significance of what they are doing can leave victims unable to articulate themselves. Perpetrators tend to present a stronger argument.

She says the ability to push for a barring order is beyond most people, even in the more extreme cases. The ultimate result is those without the will power or financial and emotional wherewithal to seek help remain in the violent relationship.