Information about family orders
66 Information about family orders
A court before which an application for a restraining order has been made must, at a time determined by the court to be appropriate in the circumstances, request the applicant to provide information (being information of which the applicant is aware) —
about the existence of —
unless subparagraph (ii) applies, any family order to which the applicant is a party; or
if the application is being made on behalf of another person, any family order to which the person for whose benefit the order would be made is a party;
and
about the existence of —
unless subparagraph (ii) applies, any pending application for a family order in which the applicant is a party to the family court proceedings; or
if the application is being made on behalf of another person, any pending application for a family order in which the person for whose benefit the order would be made is a party to the family court proceedings.
If a court, on making a request under subsection (1), or in any other circumstances, becomes aware of an existing family order, or proceedings for a family order, the court must —
take steps to obtain a copy of any family order or, if that is not reasonably practicable in the circumstances, information about the terms of any family order; and
without derogating from section 65, take the terms of any family order, or the terms of a family order that are being sought in a pending application for a family order, into account (to the extent that those terms are known to the court) when making a restraining order (including an order agreed between the parties) under this Act.
A restraining order is not invalid merely because of any failure to comply with this section.
[Section 66 inserted: No. 30 of 2020 s. 80.]
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