Protective order against a domestic abuser – what is it?

Prevention of domestic violence is one of the pressing issues to which the state pays significant attention, including by establishing measures and a mechanism for preventing domestic violence at the legislative level.

One of the effective preventive and deterrent measures against the unlawful behavior of domestic aggressors is the application of protective orders by internal affairs bodies.

In accordance with Art. 31 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On the Fundamentals of Crime Prevention Activities", a protective order is the imposition of temporary prohibitions on certain actions and obligations on a citizen who has committed domestic violence, in order to protect the life and health of the victim of domestic violence.

A protective order may be applied to a citizen who has committed domestic violence and in relation to whom, in this regard, a case for an administrative offense of intentional infliction of bodily harm and other violent actions or violation of a protective order is being prepared for consideration, or an investigation is being conducted in accordance with the requirements of criminal procedure legislation, or a criminal case has been initiated for a crime against life and health, sexual integrity or sexual freedom, or personal freedom, honor and dignity.

A citizen may be prohibited by a protective order from visiting places where the victim of domestic violence is located, if this victim is temporarily outside the joint place of residence or stay; to communicate with the victim of domestic violence, including by phone, using the global computer network Internet, and also an obligation may be imposed to temporarily leave the residential premises shared with the victim of domestic violence.

The prohibitions and obligations provided for by a protective order are established for a period of up to fifteen days from the moment the order is announced to the citizen against whom it is applied. By agreement with the prosecutor, the term of the protective order may be extended up to 30 days.

For violation of the protective

a person may be subject to administrative penalties in the form of a fine of up to 10 basic units, or community service, or administrative arrest, based on
part 2 of Article 10.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences.

 Senior Assistant Prosecutor of Vitebsk Region for Supervision of Legislation Enforcement on Crime Prevention and Other Offenses I.V. Kryukovskaya