NSW Common Assault - How Can I Have AVO Removed?

[Amy bobg]

I was wondering, the police charged my partner for common assault against me. There was one witness but I didn't press charges or make a statement. They also put an AVO for me as the protected person, which I didn't ask for.

How can I remove the AVO and how can my partner beat the charge of common assault if the witness's statement wasn't what happened?

 

[Tim W]

1. Leave the AVO in place, and let it expire naturally.
Contrary to popular belief, it's not an offence
to be on the receiving end of an AVO.
It's when a person breaches an order that it can be an offence.

2 Quite often, what you get is that the defendant partner gets in touch,
maybe by by phone, SMS, Facebook or somesuch,
to try and negotiate the withdrawing of the order.
The term and conditions of the order, once it's made,
are not negotiable between the PINOP and the defendant.
So, just to be clear - while the order is in effect,
the defendant doesn't get to contact you "just to talk",
nor to "try and work something out", and certainly not to try and talk you out of it.

3. If the defendant - the person on the "receiving end" of the order,
breaches one of the standard conditions of the order - such as
by contacting the PINOP when the order says not to,
the can be committing a new offence, separate to the original assault.

5. Don't lie in court.
Lying in court, including pretending to not remember stuff,
can mean that you can be committing separate offences yourself.
Yes, you, the original Person In Need Of Protection, can end up in separate trouble
by lying in court.

6. Even if you lie in court, the Police can often (ie, almost always)
use your original statement anyway.

Think about making a visit to your local Community Legal Centre,
or to your local Domestic Violence Advisory Service
(which might have a different name, depending on where you live).

 

[Amy bobg]

I want the AVO to be dropped as we just verbal argument. He didn't physically assault me which is where police have it wrong. I never pressed charges. He shouldn't be in trouble

 

[Tim W]

Was the "one witness" you?

 

[Amy bobg]

No ,a passerby.

 

[Xena The Warrior Princess]

1. Leave the AVO in place, and let it expire naturally.
Contrary to popular belief, it's not an offence
to be on the receiving end of an AVO.
It's when a person breaches an order that it can be an offence.

2 Quite often, what you get is that the defendant partner gets in touch,
maybe by by phone, SMS, Facebook or somesuch,
to try and negotiate the withdrawing of the order.
The term and conditions of the order, once it's made,
are not negotiable between the PINOP and the defendant.
So, just to be clear - while the order is in effect,
the defendant doesn't get to contact you "just to talk",
nor to "try and work something out", and certainly not to try and talk you out of it.

3. If the defendant - the person on the "receiving end" of the order,
breaches one of the standard conditions of the order - such as
by contacting the PINOP when the order says not to,
the can be committing a new offence, separate to the original assault.

5. Don't lie in court.
Lying in court, including pretending to not remember stuff,
can mean that you can be committing separate offences yourself.
Yes, you, the original Person In Need Of Protection, can end up in separate trouble
by lying in court.

6. Even if you lie in court, the Police can often (ie, almost always)
use your original statement anyway.

Think about making a visit to your local Community Legal Centre,
or to your local Domestic Violence Advisory Service
(which might have a different name, depending on where you live).

What is PINOP?

 

[Bill Murray]

A verbal argument can be domestic violence.

How is this education not getting through to people? Our government spends huge sums of money on education campaigns.

Contrary to what people believe, including on here, Police do not take AVOs or DVOs out for fun. The paper work takes ages, they're a pain in the ass and when the Aggrieved goes hostile it just becomes a mess. If the Police took one out they had no choice.

At best you can request to vary it. It will not be dismissed. I've only ever seen one Police DV app beaten and it was the most appalling miscarriage of justice I have ever seen to the point where I lost a lot of faith in our court system. Unless you have a real reason to not have one then who cares. I'd fight one but that's because a DV order would cause me to lose my job and my weapons licence but it'd be huge fight to beat it.

PINOP = Person in need of protection.

 

[Tim W]

What is PINOP?

"Person In Need of Protection".

 

[Xena The Warrior Princess]

"Person In Need of Protection".

Thank you Tim W.

I have a quick question regarding pressing the assault charges. What is the process? Do the aggrieved need a lawyer, as she has DVO against the respondent? Any info would be much appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Tim W]

Need a lawyer to get the order? Not always.
Speak to the police person handling the matter, and be guided by them.