The Court: Broadmeadows Magistrates Court
The Lawyer: Mario Saoud
The Charges:
The Allegations:
The client was a small business owner who had been in a long-distance relationship with a woman from another country for a year before his partner decided to move to Victoria to be with him. They had been residing together for six months in Melbourne’s North and were planning on getting married.
Initially, the relationship appeared genuine and stable, and the client was financially supporting his partner at the time. Following several minor disagreements about work and lifestyle factors, the client’s partner had left the home they shared.
The client’s partner had reported to the police that she was subject to domestic violence by our client. Police referred her to temporary accommodation and support services, but did not make an application for a Family Violence Intervention Order. The partner then attended Broadmeadows Magistrates Court and lodged an application for a Family Violence Intervention Order with the registry, alleging verbal threats, controlling behaviour and damage to her property.
At Court:
Our client was frantic and unsure of what was happening once he was served with a copy of the interim intervention order. He subsequently contacted our office to engage one of our solicitors for assistance.
Unbeknownst to our client, his ex-partner had applied for permanent residency in Australia. A fast track to achieving permanent residency is to claim that there has been domestic violence in the relationship.
Our solicitor sought the client’s instructions, who completely denied all the allegations made by his ex-partner. Our client provided instructions to contest the application. Our solicitor and the client attended several preliminary hearings until the matter was booked in for a contested hearing.
A contested hearing is the final stage in proceedings when a matter is being contested. The Magistrate will hear evidence from both parties and then determine whether the Applicant requires an intervention order for protection from the Respondent. Intervention Order matters are civil orders, and therefore, the legal test differs from that of criminal matters. The Magistrate needs to be satisfied on the balance of probabilities, which is the legal test for civil matters.
The Outcome:
On the day of the contested hearing, several witnesses were present and gave evidence in court, but the aggrieved family member (the client’s ex-partner) refused to give evidence. Our solicitor made submissions to the Magistrate, who ultimately struck out the matter.
This was a fantastic win for the client despite having to pay legal fees to have the matter go to a contested hearing. The application for an intervention order was struck out, meaning the client did not have an intervention order against him.
