Essentially, it means the court has issued a suspended warrant of arrest for you. If you breach the protection order you may be arrested by the police immediately.
If it becomes permanent, then so does the open warrant. That means, until the order is lifted, if you violate it, or even if you are accused of violating it, you can be arrested and detained. you will then be prosecuted criminally by the State for the breach of the protection order
A distinction must be drawn between an interim protection order and a notice to show cause.
The first is a notice to respondent to show cause (submit reasons) – why a protection order should not be issued.
This is “less” than an IPO in that an order is not granted by a magistrate but is still serious. It means an applicant approached a court to try to get a protection order against you but did not supply the court with sufficient evidence to satisfy the magistrate that an interim protection order was warranted.
However, the magistrate did agree with the applicant that there was sufficient cause for concern, and hence agreed to issue the Notice.
The second is an: Interim Protection order.
This is very serious as it means a magistrate, on hearing an application against you, found sufficient cause to grant an interim protection order barring you from certain places and from doing certain things. It means that there is a suspended warrant of arrest for you. In the event that you violate a protection order, you may be arrested by the police immediately and incarcerated.
Abuse of protection orders
The connotation attached to a protection order is very negative, and many unscrupulous people capitalize on this. In applying for a protection order when no such order is required, they attempt to abuse the court system.
Parties often choose this strategy as they know courts tend to err on the side of caution when approached for a protection order.
They also know it to be cost effective as the process of applying for the Protection order is largely free, and it is the respondent who bears the greatest risk and cost burden.
Examples of abuse of the system:
A spouse deliberately circumventing the authority of the family advocate by seizing or removing custody of a child from the ex-spouse. Sometimes employers may use it to cast dispersions on an employee in an employment dispute.
Whether it is for emotional or financial reasons, the misuse of a protective order is an abuse of the court system and can result in serious consequences for the abuser.
The offense of perjury is criminal, so if you lie to get a protection order you could be charged with a crime.
Further, the magistrate could see the protection order as being frivolous or vexatious, and in those cases actually make a cost award against the party who brought the application. Although these awards are rare, they do happen.
