4. Go to court

In most cases, there will be a ‘hearing date' on your notice of motion. You and your partner are expected to be in court on that date and time.

Form 14C: Confirmation

Before each court date, you must file Form 14C: Confirmation with the court. This form tells the court that you will be at your court date. You must file the form at least 3 days before your court date. If you do not do this, you might lose your court date. You can file the form in person at the courthouse or by email through the Justice Services Online website. It can no longer be filed by fax.

You do not need to file a Form 14C if you're bringing an ex parte or urgent motion without notice.

Your court date

To get a restraining order, you must prove that you have reasonable grounds to fear for your safety or the safety of any child that you have decision-making responsibility for. You must show why you are afraid for yourself or any child.

You might want to ask for a restraining order if the person:

• is harassing you after you have moved out and you don't want to call the police
• has threatened you and the police tell you there is nothing they can do
• has threatened to abduct or take your child away from you

You usually give evidence using sworn written documents called affidavits. But sometimes you might have to give oral evidence where you answer questions in court. In most cases, your partner will also give evidence.

To prepare for court, you should make notes about:

• every time your partner threatens, contacts, or hurts you or your family,
• any time your partner damages your property, and
• a list of witnesses to the behaviour.

The judge will look at all the evidence and decide whether to give you a restraining order and for how long.

Urgent motion without notice

If you brought an ex parte or urgent motion without notice, the judge will decide whether to grant a temporary restraining order based only on your written evidence. The judge will set another court date, usually within 14 days, when they will hear from both of you.

You will need to serve your partner with a copy of the order and your court documents. The judge will then decide whether to continue the restraining order.