2
3
(Cap. 1.)
Limitations with respect to certain injunctions and powers of arrest.
Power of court to grant extension.
Rules of practice
and procedure.
(a) restrains the other party from using violence against the applicant or a child
living with the applicant; or
(b) excludes that other party from the matrimonial home or from a specified
part of the matrimonial home or from a specified area,
the High Court or the District Court, as the case may be, if it is satisfied that the other party has caused actual bodily harm to the applicant or, as the case may be, to the child concerned, may, subject to section 6, at the same time as it grants the injunction or at any time during the period for which the injunction is granted, attach to the injunction a power of arrest in the prescribed form.
(2) Where under subsection (1) a power of arrest is attached to an injunction a police officer may arrest without warrant any person whom he reasonably suspects of being in breach of the injunction by reason of that person's use of violence or, as the case may be, his entry into any premises or area specified in the injunction, and the police officer shall have all necessary powers including the power of entry by the use of reasonable force to effect that arrest.
(3) Where a person is arrested under subsection (2) he shall—
(a) be brought---
(i) in the case of a power of arrest attached under subsection (1) to an injunction by the High Court, before the High Court; and
(ii) in the case of a power of arrest attached under that subsection to an injunction by the District Court, before the District Court,
before the expiry of the day after the day of his arrest; and
(b) not be released within the period referred to in paragraph (a) except on the
direction of the High Court or of the District Court, as the case may be, but nothing in this section shall authorize his detention at any time after the expiry of the period mentioned in paragraph (a).
(4) Section 71 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance shall not apply to this section except in so far as that section applies to a gale warning day.
6. (1) A provision mentioned in section 3(1)(c) or (d) contained in an injunction granted under this Ordinance shall have effect for such period, not exceeding 3 months, as the court considers necessary.
(2) A power of arrest attached under section 5(1) to an injunction shall- (a) be granted for such period, not exceeding 3 months, as the court considers
necessary; and
(b) lapse on the expiry of the period for which the injunction was granted.
(3) Nothing in this Ordinance shall authorize a court on an application by one of the parties to a relationship to which this Ordinance applies by virtue of section 2(2) to grant an injunction containing a provision mentioned in section 3(1)(c) or (d), or, under section 5(1), attach to an injunction a power of arrest, unless that court is satisfied that having regard to the permanence of that relationship it is appropriate in all the circumstances to grant that injunction or attach that power of arrest.
7.
A court may extend-
(a) an injunction granted under this Ordinance containing a provision men-
tioned in section 3(1)(c) or (d); or
(b) a power of arrest attached to an injunction under section 5(1),
prior to the expiry of the period thereof for a further period so that the total period thereof does not exceed 6 months from the date when that injunction was granted or that power of arrest attached.
8. The Chief Justice may make rules for the purposes of this Ordinance in respect of the following matters—
(a) the hearing and determination of applications under this Ordinance;
(b) forms to be used in connexion with any application or order under this
Ordinance;
(c) the service of documents;
(d) the attendance of parties;
(e) the release on bail of persons arrested under a power of arrest attached,
under section 5(1), to an injunction; and
(f) the transfer of proceedings commenced in the High Court from the High Court to the District Court and of proceedings commenced in the District Court from the District Court to the High Court.
9.
in derogation from the powers of the High Court and the District Court.
The powers conferred under this Ordinance shall be in addition to and not Saving as to
jurisdiction.
existing
10. An injunction containing a provision mentioned in section 3(1)(c) or (d) Injunctions not to shall not be registered under the Land Registration Ordinance.
be registered. (Cap. 128.)
11. (1) The powers conferred by this Ordinance on the High Court shall be Powers of the exercised by a judge.
court to be exercised by
a judge.
(2) The powers conferred by this Ordinance on the District Court shall be exercised by a District Judge.
Explanatory Memorandum
This Bill enables the District Court, and, in certain cases, the High Court, to grant speedy protection to a person suffering as a result of domestic violence. The Court may, on the application of a party to a marriage, grant an injunction—
(a) to restrain the other party from molesting the applicant or a child living
with the applicant;
(b) to exclude that party from a matrimonial home or a part thereof or from a
specified area; and
(c) to require that party to allow the applicant to occupy the matrimonial home
or a part thereof (clause 3).
2.
If actual bodily harm has been caused to the applicant or a child, the Court may attach a power of arrest to an injunction which will empower a police officer to arrest a person who is in breach of the injunction by reason of his use of violence or, in appropriate cases, presence in a particular area (clause 5).
3. By clause 6 a power of arrest, an order excluding a party from a matrimonial home and an order entitling an applicant to occupy a matrimonial home may only be granted, initially, for 3 months but may be extended for up to 6 months (clause 7).
4. The Ordinance applies to the cohabitation of a man and a woman as it applies to marriage (clause 2(2)) except that, in the case of the power to order the attachment of a power of arrest, to order the exclusion of a party from a home or to make an order entitling an applicant to occupy a home, the court is required to be satisfied, having regard to the permanence of the relationship, that it is appropriate to so order (clause 6(3)).
5. The Chief Justice is empowered by clause 8 to make rules for the purposes of the Ordinance.
6. The Bill has no significant Public Service staffing or public expenditure implications.