Peace Order

A peace order (sometimes referred to as a restraining order) is a legal arrangement of protection for an individual who is facing issues within a relationship that is not sexual or familial in nature (i.e. neighbor). Peace orders are for individuals who have experienced: assault in any degree, trespassing, stalking, harassing, physical harm, actions that place the individual in fear of impending physical harm, malevolent destruction of property, revenge porn, criminal surveillance, interactive computer service and false imprisonment. A peace order may also be sought if there has been illegal use of telephone facilities, electronic communication and equipment.

Peace orders offer the petitioner (the individual filing the peace order) the option of having the court legally order the respondent (the individual being served with the peace order) to refrain from contacting or being in physical vicinity with the petitioner. Under a peace order, the Judge may order the respondent to stay away from the petitioner’s place of employment, residence or school, abstinence of threatening or committing acts against the petitioner and to end all forms of communication between them.

The petitioner has thirty days after the incident occurred to file with the court and present proof of any injuries, copies of police reports, medical records related to the incident and witnesses. There are two to three steps to the processing of obtaining a peace order: getting an interim peace order (immediate protection when the courts are closed), temporary peace order (during court business hours) and lastly obtaining a final peace order-long term protection.

Peace Orders are powerful tools that can restrict a person’s freedom, ability to work or right to possess a weapon and if you find yourself either needing an order of protection or needing to defend yourself against an order please contact COHEN|HARRIS LLC at (888) 585-7979 or Roland@CohenHarris.com or Martin@CohenHarris.com.