A power of arrest is a written direction issued by the court to the police allowing them to arrest someone in breach of the terms of a protective order.

Powers of arrest allow the police to put a defender in breach of a court order into custody. However, they are not always required to prevent behaviour. For example, in Scotland, a non-molestation order is usually granted in the first instance. If it is then breached, we can apply to the courts to give the written direction granting powers of arrest. This allows the police to charge the defender if they have reasonable suspicion they have breached the order in question. Often however, the non-molestation order alone can be enough to desist certain types of behaviour.

A protection order is only enforceable once it has been served to the defender. If power of arrest is granted, notice of this must be sent to the Chief Constable of Police Scotland who then has a duty to notify the relevant police stations of the arrestment order.

A Non-Harassment Order is a court order that will protect you from harassment that someone has or has intended to cause.

This can protect you from various forms of harassing behaviour. This may include actions that aren’t illegal in nature yet make you feel harassed such as: repeated telephone calls or texts.

This order will apply to any such person that has been harassing you, whether that be a neighbour or your partner- as long as this behaviour has occurred on more than one occasion.

Through the granting of such an order, the accused will no longer be allowed to continue harassing you, if this order is breached, they will be committing a criminal offence and will be liable to receive punishment from the court. This punishment could include, imprisonment for up to five years or a large fine.

If your Non-Harassment Order is breached, it is very important that you contact the police quickly. This process may require you to give evidence in court, if the person in question denies a breach of the Non-Harassment Order.

To apply for a Non-Harassment Order, you will need to enlist the help of a Solicitor.

This can protect you from various forms of harassing behaviour. This may include actions that aren’t illegal in nature yet make you feel harassed such as: repeated telephone calls or texts.

An Initial Writ will then be lodged in the Sheriff Court, this will give details of the behaviour of the person that is harassing you. It will then be up to the Sheriff to decide if whether or not it is reasonable to grant the order that you are requesting. This will depend on the likelihood of further harassment from the person in question.

As an alternative, the Sheriff may grant and interdict instead, he may award a financial sum to compensate for the harassment you have suffered or refuse all together to grant the Non-Harassment Order.