Malaysia legislation

Section 3

of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 1994

Section 3

This Act shall be read together with the Penal Code [Act 574]

or any other written law involving offences relating to domestic violence.

Part Ia

EMERGENCY PROTECTION ORDER

Emergency protection order 3a. (1) A social welfare officer duly authorized in writing by the

Director General may, in an application involving a complaint of domestic violence referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of “domestic violence” under section 2, issue an emergency protection order.

(2)

An application for an emergency protection order may be made at any time whether or not an interim protection order or a protection order has been previously made or an application for an interim protection order or a protection order is still pending.

(3)

An application for an emergency protection order shall be made ex parte by—

(a)

the victim;

(b)

the victim’s counsel; or

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(c)

in the case where the victim is a child or an incapacitated adult, the guardian, relative or person responsible for the care of such child or incapacitated adult, or a social welfare officer other than an authorized social welfare officer.

(4)

An application for an emergency protection order may be made in any district where—

(a)

the victim resides;

(b)

the person against whom the protection is sought resides;

(c)

the alleged domestic violence occurred; or

(d)

the victim is placed temporarily.

(5)

Upon receipt of the application for an emergency protection order, the application shall be heard by the authorized social welfare officer immediately and the issuance of the emergency protection order, if any, shall be made, where practicable, within two hours after the application is made.

(6)

For the purpose of an application for an emergency protection order, a police report relating to the domestic violence is not required.

(7)

The authorized social welfare officer, in making an emergency protection order under subsection (1), may issue one or more of the following orders:

(a)

prohibiting the person against whom the order is made from using domestic violence referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of “domestic violence” under section 2 against his or her spouse or former spouse, a child, an incapacitated adult or any other member of the family, as the case may be;

(b)

prohibiting the person against whom the order is made from inciting any other person to commit domestic violence referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of

“domestic violence” under section 2 against his or her spouse or former spouse, a child, an incapacitated adult or any other member of the family, as the case may be; or

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(c)

prohibiting the person against whom the order is made from entering any protected person’s safe place, shelter, place of residence, shared residence or alternative residence, as the case may be.

(8)

An emergency protection order shall be valid for the period of seven days from the date of issuance of the order, and enforceable when a copy of the order is served on the person against whom the order is made in accordance with section 3b.

(9)

The emergency protection order issued shall not be affected by the issuance of an interim protection order or a protection order.

Service of emergency protection order 3b. (1) The authorized social welfare officer who issued the emergency protection order under subsection 3a(1) shall forward a copy of the order, where practicable within ten hours of the issuance of the emergency protection order, to the officer in charge of the police district where the person against whom the order is made resides or any other police officer under his command.

(2)

The officer in charge of the police district or any other police officer under his command referred to in subsection (1)

shall serve a copy of the emergency protection order personally on the person against whom the order is made, where practicable, within twelve hours upon receiving a copy of the order.

Substituted service for emergency protection order 3c. If the officer in charge of the police district or any other police officer under his command referred to in subsection 3b(1)

is not able to serve a copy of the emergency protection order on the person against whom the order is made personally within twelve hours of receiving a copy of the order, the service of the emergency protection order shall be effected—

(a)

by leaving a copy of the order at the last known address of the person against whom the order is made; or

(b)

by any other manner as the authorized social welfare officer may direct.

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Proof of service of emergency protection order 3d. The officer in charge of the police district or any other police officer under his command referred to in subsection 3b(1) shall file proof of service of the copy of the emergency protection order effected under section 3b or 3c with the authorized social welfare officer, and communicate the service effected to the victim, within twelve hours of service.

Contravention of emergency protection order 3e. (1) Any person who wilfully contravenes an emergency protection order or any provision of the order shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.

(2)

Any person who wilfully contravenes an emergency protection order by using violence on a protected person shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding four thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.

(3)

Any person who is convicted for a second or subsequent violation of an emergency protection order under subsection (2)

shall be punished with imprisonment for a period of not less than seventy-two hours and not more than two years, and shall also be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand ringgit.

Record of applications and emergency protection orders 3f. (1) The authorized social welfare officer shall maintain a record of all applications for emergency protection orders and emergency protection orders issued by the authorized social welfare officer under this Act.

(2)

The record shall contain—

(a)

the names, gender and relationship of the parties;

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(b)

the domestic violence alleged, whether it involved any weapon, or resulted in personal injuries and whether the injuries inflicted required medical treatment; and

(c)

the effective date and terms of each order issued.