An Emergency Protection Order (EPO) is a court order which helps to protect someone from a family member committing violent against them. They are meant for emergencies and urgent situations and an EPO orders the individual causing harm to stay away from you, not to contact you and to move out of the family home. An EPO is meant to address protection and safety in the short-term only. They are not long-term solutions or substitutes for a parenting order.
An EPO can be applied for if the following conditions 3 conditions are met. First a family member has committed violence against a family member. Second, there is reason to believe the family member carrying out the violence will continue or resume the violence. Finally, the situation is urgent and serious enough that an order is needed right away to protect the family.
In situations that are not as serious or urgent a King’s Bench Protection Order or a restraining order may be more appropriate. There are also other types of orders meant for similar situations that do not involve a family member. Family members that are covered by EPOs are spouses, children, blood relatives, relatives by marriage, the other parent of an individual’s child, children in an individuals care and custody, former intimate partners or someone who has care and custody of someone else. EPOs are not applicable to dating partners unless they live together or have children together or to people who live together but are not intimate.
Family violence can include any of the following: actions that injure someone or damage property and intimidate or harm a family member, acts or threats that intimidate family members by creating a reasonable fear of property damage or injury to a family member, forced confinement in a room or other enclosed space, sexual abuse or stalking.
When an EPO is applied for it becomes enforceable when the respondent (the person the order is sought against) receives a copy of the order which will include the rules they are ordered to follow. The respondent will be served with the EPO by a police officer or process server.
The EPO will include the date of a review hearing to be held in front of a justice in the Court of King’s Bench. The hearing date will be within 9 days of the order being granted. At the hearing the justice can cancel the order, confirm the order, order an oral hearing to hear evidence from the applicant and respondent or cancel the order and issue a King’s Bench Protection Order instead.
An EPO can be valid for up to a full year. If the family member does not follow the order the police can arrest and charge them for breaching the order. If charged the family member will appear in court and if they plead guilty or are convicted, they can be fined or face a jail term. Multiple breaches of an EPO result in an automatic jail term.
An EPO can be obtained 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in Calgary by contacting Legal Aid’s Emergency Protection Order Program during business hours or by contacting the Calgary Hearing Office during all other times. They can also be obtained by contacting the local police or RCMP. You can also consult with your lawyer for assistance.
If you need help to initiate an EPO or help to reply to one, the experienced lawyers at The Calgary Legal Team can help.