3. Let the courts know about other orders

If you cannot use the Integrated Domestic Violence Court (IDVC), you will have to go to family court for your family law issues, and criminal court for the criminal charges.

Often, the judges in each court do not know what's happening in the other court. They might not even know that there is another court case in a different court.

It's important to let both judges know about your other court cases. You should also let them know about any court orders you already have.

The judge can then avoid making an order that conflicts with an existing .

Criminal court conditions

In criminal court, the partner charged with abuse often gets conditions that say, for example, that they:

must come to court on their court dates
cannot contact their partner or children
cannot go within a certain distance of their partner's home or workplace
cannot use drugs or alcohol
cannot have a gun or any kind of weapon
has limited time with or is not allowed to spend time with their children

Conflicting orders

Conflicting orders that say different things are confusing for the court and for you. For example, you may have a family court order for and a criminal court order that says you and your partner cannot have contact.

You may not know whether your partner is breaking the criminal order by going to your home to pick up the children. Or whether they are just doing what they're allowed to do.

Your partner may also try to use the conflicting orders to continue abusing you. For example, they may contact you to arrange parenting time even though they have a no-contact condition.

Update the court

Court orders can change often. So it's important to make sure the family court and criminal court have the most recent copy of any court order.