Getting protection under the Harassment Act
Opposing (“defending”) an application for a Restraining Order
How can I oppose an application that’s been made against me?
District Court Rules 2014, rule 20.40
If someone has applied for a Restraining Order against you, you’re called “the respondent”. If you want to oppose the Restraining Order, you must give the court a notice of defence and a sworn affidavit, at least five working days before the hearing. You also have to give these documents to the person who applied for the order (the “applicant”) at least five working days before the hearing (this is called “serving” the documents on the applicant). If you don’t want to see them in person, you can serve them by delivering them to the address that’s on their application (usually their address, an email address, or their lawyer’s offices).
At the court hearing, both the applicant and you will give evidence and can be cross-examined. The judge will consider both sides’ evidence and then decide whether to grant the Restraining Order. The process at the hearing is explained in detail at: “What happens at the court hearing?”.
If you don’t oppose the application for a Restraining Order, the judge can decide whether to grant an order based only on the evidence presented by the applicant.
