Restraining orders: what courts prohibit, how long they last and breach consequences

A restraining order is a court order that prohibits contact or certain behaviour toward a named person. Criminal courts issue them after conviction or sometimes after acquittal, aiming to protect someone from harassment or violence. This guide explains when courts impose them, what they typically forbid, how long they run and what happens if someone breaks one. HS Criminal Law sets out each part in plain terms so you know what a restraining order means in practice.

When courts impose restraining orders

Magistrates and Crown Courts can make a restraining order after convicting someone of any criminal offence, whether the offence involved the protected person or not. Courts also have the power to impose one after acquitting a defendant if they judge it necessary to protect someone from harassment or fear of violence.

The application usually comes from the prosecution, but a court can impose an order on its own initiative. The order names the protected person and sets out the prohibitions. The protected person does not need to consent, though courts consider their views.

Prohibitions and conditions

A restraining order forbids specific acts. Common prohibitions include:

• contacting the protected person directly or indirectly, by any means
• approaching or following them
• entering a defined area, such as a street or radius around their home or workplace
• using social media or third parties to pass messages

The wording is tailored to each case. An order might allow contact through a solicitor for matters such as child arrangements but ban all other communication. Courts aim for clarity, stating exactly what the subject must not do rather than leaving room for interpretation.

Comparison of order types

Duration and variation

A restraining order runs for a fixed period stated by the court, or until further order, which means indefinitely unless successfully challenged. Many orders last several years. The subject can apply to discharge or vary the order, but they must show that circumstances have changed enough to justify lifting or relaxing the prohibitions.

The protected person cannot cancel the order themselves. Courts weigh whether the risk has genuinely reduced, considering any evidence of continued harassment or concern. If the court agrees, it will discharge the order. If not, the order stays in place.

Breach of a restraining order

Breaking a restraining order is a criminal offence. It carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison or a fine, or both. Courts treat breach seriously because it undermines protection the law has already put in place.

Breach occurs when the subject does anything the order forbids. Sending a single message, walking past the protected person's home or asking a friend to pass on contact all count as breach if the order prohibits them. The prosecution must prove the subject knew the order existed and acted deliberately, but they do not need to prove intent to cause harm. Even if contact was well-meaning, it remains a breach if the order bans it.

What happens after breach

Police arrest on suspicion of breach. The subject is interviewed and often charged. Magistrates' courts hear most breach cases, though serious or repeat breaches can go to the Crown Court. Penalties range from fines to immediate custody, depending on the nature of the breach and any previous breaches. Bail conditions after arrest for breach often replicate or tighten the original prohibitions.

Practical consequences for daily life

A restraining order can reshape where the subject lives and works. If the order bans entering certain areas and the subject lives there, they must move. If work requires contact or proximity to the protected person, the subject must change jobs or ask the court to vary the order before starting.

Social gatherings become complicated when both the subject and the protected person attend the same event. The order usually requires the subject to leave immediately if the protected person arrives, regardless of who was there first. Planning routes, shopping trips and social plans around the exclusion zones becomes routine.

Steps to take if you are subject to a restraining order

1. Read the order carefully as soon as you receive it and note every prohibition. If any wording is unclear, ask your solicitor before acting.
2. Keep a copy of the order with you at all times so you can show it to police if stopped near an exclusion zone for a legitimate reason.
3. Delete the protected person's contact details from your phone, email and social media to avoid accidental contact.
4. Inform close family and friends of the prohibitions so they do not inadvertently pass messages or create situations where you might breach.
5. If circumstances change and the order becomes unworkable, apply to the court to vary or discharge it rather than ignoring the prohibitions.

Restraining orders and non-molestation orders

Restraining orders arise from criminal proceedings. Non-molestation orders come from family courts in civil proceedings. Both aim to protect someone from harassment or violence, but the routes differ. A person can hold both orders at once if criminal and family proceedings run in parallel.

Non-molestation orders usually require the protected person to apply and pay a court fee, though fee remission exists. Restraining orders are imposed by the criminal court without cost to the protected person. Breach of a non-molestation order is also a criminal offence, carrying the same maximum sentence as breach of a restraining order.

How long the order appears on records

A restraining order itself is not a conviction. The conviction that led to it appears on a criminal record according to normal rehabilitation rules. The existence of the order is recorded and will show if police check the Police National Computer. If the subject breaches the order and is convicted of that breach, the conviction for breach is a separate entry on the record with its own rehabilitation period.

The order continues to bind the subject even after the underlying conviction becomes spent. A spent conviction does not discharge the order unless the court explicitly orders it at sentencing or in a later variation hearing.

Challenging or varying the order

The subject can appeal a restraining order within the usual appeal window if they believe the court should not have imposed it or that the terms are too broad. Outside the appeal period, the route is an application to the court that made the order, asking to discharge or vary it. The subject must file a notice, and the court schedules a hearing.

The application succeeds only if circumstances have genuinely changed. Time alone is rarely enough. Courts look for evidence that the risk has reduced: for example, sustained compliance with the order, successful completion of an intervention programme, or evidence that the protected person no longer objects. Even then, courts often prefer to relax rather than discharge, keeping some prohibitions in place.

Download PDF: Living with a restraining order: what to check PDF, 29 KB