Our AVO lawyers in Sydney offer FIXED FEES and a FREE consult to anyone facing an AVO in court.
We have over 40-years combined experience in specialising and appearing across all courts in AVO cases with outstanding results.
Going to court for an AVO? Don’t risk it. We can talk to you about everything you need to know about your AVO case and the court process. This is our specialty. We can stand by you, represent you and fight for you in court.
Our Sydney AVO lawyers have achieved an exceptional proven track record in:
- Getting AVOs withdrawn early, saving our clients’ legal costs and stress.
- Convincing the court to order the other side to pay our clients legal fees.
- Getting AVOs dismissed in court through Successfully defending AVO allegations in court by fierce, strategic cross-examination of the other side and their witnesses.
What is an AVO?
An AVO stands for ‘apprehended violence order’. You’ll be required to attend court if served with an AVO. The two types of AVOs are, apprehended domestic violence orders (DVOs) and apprehended personal violence order (PVOs).
An AVO is a civil court proceeding, not criminal. Its purpose is to prohibit or restrict a person from intimidating, harassing, stalking, assaulting, to even communicating with or getting close to any person named as the ‘person in need of protection’ (PINOP) in the AVO.
Breaching an AVO will result in criminal breach of AVO charge(s), which is treated very seriously by courts.
How to Get an AVO Dropped or Dismissed?
Through effective negotiations, an AVO can get withdrawn & dismissed early, saving costly legal fees and stresses of going to court. You may also be able to get the other side to pay your legal fees.
Our experienced AVO lawyers can either successfully negotiate the AVO to be dropped early or fight by your side to get it dismissed in court, by fiercely defending it. We’ve successfully achieved this on countless occasions for our clients with the highest success in getting exceptional results.
Defending an AVO
An AVO will be successfully defended if there’s insufficient evidence, or the AVO isn’t necessary to protect the people named in it, or the protected person named in the AVO does NOT fear and has no reasonable grounds to fear the defendant.
Our team of specialist AVO lawyers have successfully defended countless AVOs for over two decades. It requires extensive knowledge and experience in AVO law and court advocacy when convincing the Judge.
We’re familiar with the Magistrates and Judges and we are fierce in defending our clients. This is due to our results driven approach.
AVO Conditions NSW
AVO conditions of a Domestic or Personal Violence Order include ‘mandatory conditions’ and ‘additional conditions’ that restrict or prohibit certain conduct of the defendant to protect the ‘protected person’ named in the AVO. These conditions can be either completely removed or changed.
Only the conditions of an AVO considered by the court to be necessary or desirable for the safety and protection are imposed.
AVO Application | How to Get an AVO
To get an AVO on someone, an application for an AVO must first be made at the court registry or police station. If approved, it can either be in the form of an application for an AVO, provisional AVO or interim AVO before it gets finally determined in court.
An AVO can either be taken out by police or taken out privately. Our AVO lawyers have over two decades of experience with private and police AVOs, acting on behalf of defendants and as the applicant for the ‘PINOP’.
How to Revoke or Vary an AVO
An AVO can be varied or revoked (removed), but it must be done in court. If you want ease or delete avo conditions, you’ll need to apply for an AVO variation. If you wish to completely get rid of the AVO, you’ll need to apply to revoke the AVO.
Our team of experienced AVO lawyers are familiar with the Judges and Magistrates, and regularly appear in court with exceptional results in successfully revoking and varying AVOs.
Breach of AVOs
Breaching an AVO condition can result in serious criminal charges, which courts treat very seriously. There are various defences to breach of AVO charges, that include self-defence and lack of knowledge.
Our specialist AVO lawyers can talk to you about this with a full case appraisal. We’ve achieved high success in defending breach of AVO charges and avoided criminal convictions in court countless times.
How long does an AVO last NSW?
How long an AVO lasts depends on the type of AVO it is. Generally an AVO can be in force for as long as necessary. AVOs typically last for periods of between 6 month to two years.
Property recovery orders
AVO conditions can prevent you from going to places where your belongings are. This includes your essential or valuable property you need to get back, but are unable to due to the AVO conditions prohibiting you from going there.
You can apply for a property recovery order to retrieve your belongings. Our AVO lawyers can talk to you about this, from advising you of the process, making the application, to representing you in court to achieve this outcome.
Does an AVO go on your record?
An AVO is not criminal proceedings, nor is it a charge. It is a civil court proceeding which will only turn into a criminal charge if the AVO is breached by the defendant named on it.
However, there can be negative consequences of having an AVO against you.
We can talk to you about the consequences of having an AVO tailored to your particular case and life circumstance. Give our friendly team a call today.
Can you get cost orders in an AVO case?
Getting the other side to pay your legal fees if you win in an AVO case is possible. The Judge or Magistrate will ultimately decide whether or not to order costs in your favour. This can happen under section 99 of the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW).
Our AVO lawyers have extensive experience in successfully defending and winning AVO cases, and convincing the court to grants costs over the years.
What happens at an AVO hearing?
Going to a hearing is daunting, it can get complex and stressful knowing every word you say is being recorded and carefully analysed by the Judge and other side. The process of an AVO hearing in court is something our AVO lawyers know like the back of our hands.
It’s important to understand the hearing process, especially giving evidence in court.
Can you appeal an AVO?
An AVO can be appealed in one of two ways if you’re not happy with the outcome in the local court. You can either appeal to the District Court or make an annulment application in the local court. There is a time limit on when you can lodge the appeal.
We can talk about this with you. Simply call us today. Our AVO lawyers specialise in appeals and AVOs for over two decades with proven success.
FAQ
You can fight an AVO. This is done by defending it, also known as a ‘show cause hearing’ in court. This means the other side (applicant) is required to show cause why an AVO should be imposed against the defendant. The defendant can then defend it by showing reasons why an AVO should not be imposed.
The following grounds for an AVO must be satisfied in order for a court to impose a final AVO against a defendant:
- There are reasonable grounds for the ‘protected person’ to fear while he/she actually fears conduct from the defendant amounting to domestic violence, intimidation or stalking; and
- The conditions of the AVO are necessary for the protected person’s safety and protection.
An AVO is not a criminal record. Breaching one can result in one if you get charged and convicted for breach of AVO charge(s).
An AVO is taken seriously by police and courts. It is easier to get out a temporary AVO against someone than it is to successfully get a final AVO against someone in court. An AVO is not criminal in nature, it will turn into criminal proceedings if AVO conditions are breached. Breach of AVO is taken very seriously.
AVO itself can have certain consequences to getting a working with children check clearance, firearms licence and tenancy agreements.
It’s highly recommended to get experienced advice, guidance and representation for an AVO, especially when attending court. This is mainly because of the serious possible consequences of having an AVO against you.
We can talk to you about any questions you have on this. Our friendly AVO lawyers provide a free first consult and fixed fees for AVO cases. We also have achieved a proven track record of outstanding results in AVOs for over two decades. We’re experts and we’re here to help.
Police can and usually do take out AVOs on behalf of the complainant. Section 49 of the legislation requires them to apply for an AVO in certain circumstances.
The police are able to immediately take out an enforceable provisional AVO on the spot at the police station. This then becomes a temporary AVO purporting to protect the PINOP at least until the court decides on the case.
Our lawyers who specialise in AVOs can conduct all communications and represent your best interests in police AVOs. Police AVOs usually also involve criminal charge(s). Our team specialise in all criminal charges. Call us to discuss, we’re happy to help over a free consult.
There are lots of rules of an AVO that you must be aware of if you’re faced with one. You must be aware of what the AVO conditions mean, consequences of breaching them, how to get an AVO, how long an AVO lasts for at every stage of the AVO process from provisional AVO, interim AVO and final AVO, and what factors the court must be satisfied of in order to make a final AVO in court.
We can talk to you about this in an easy to understand and simple way. Call our 24/7 hotline today for a free consult to get a case appraisal and fixed fee quote.
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