It’s free to respond to an application for a Restraining Order.
If someone asks for a Restraining Order against you, you’ll be given a copy of their application.
If you don’t respond to the application, the judge can decide whether or not to make the Order without hearing what you think.
If you decide to have your say (called defending the application), you’ll need to fill in the forms, file them with the court and then serve them on the other person by taking or sending them to their address for service at least 5 working days before the hearing.
If you need help to fill in the forms you can:
Find out more about affidavits and statutory declarations
If you want to challenge the application, you’ll need to attend the hearing. At the hearing you (or your lawyer, if you have one) will be able to argue why a Restraining Order against you should not be made (for example, if you are a debt collector and were only trying to contact the person as part of your job, you can say that what you did had a ‘lawful purpose’).
Find out more about the court hearing for a Restraining Order
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