Power of the Agency The Child and Family Agency may apply for safety, barring and emergency barring orders on behalf of a person (or a dependant) whose safety or welfare it believes to be at risk of violence and who is being deterred or prevented from making an application because of this risk of violence. Where a court is dealing with an application under the […]
Reformed Law The Domestic Violence Act 2018 amends and consolidates the law in relation to domestic violence. The Act also includes new provisions that were required in order for Ireland to be able to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, more commonly known as the Istanbul Convention. Ireland signed the Istanbul Convention in November 2015. […]
Nature of Act’s Rights The Family Home Protection Act 1976 introduced protections for the non-owning spouse. Prior to the legislation, a non-owning spouse was thought at best to have a licence to stay in the family home on the basis of the husband’s general obligation to maintain her. The property could be mortgaged or sold to a third party without the spouse’s consent unless she […]
Common Law Reformed A married woman was not capable of owning separate property under the common law. Her property was deemed owned by her husband. As a corollary to this, a husband was obliged to maintain his wife. She had the authority to pledge his credit for so-called necessaries. The Married Women’s Property Act 1882 repealed the common law rules and enabled a married woman […]
Applicants Under the Domestic Violence Act 1996, the following categories may apply for orders for domestic protection: a spouse of the respondent; a person who has lived with the respondent as husband and wife for six of the twelve preceding months; a parent of the respondent, where the respondent is aged 18 years or upwards and is not dependent; or a person aged 18 years […]
Divorce and the Family Home The family home is defined primarily as a dwelling in which a married couple ordinarily resides. It also includes a dwelling in which a spouse whose protection is an issue ordinarily resides or, if that spouse has left the other spouse, ordinarily resided before so leaving. A dwelling is defined as any building or part of a building occupied as […]