Few people realize that a victim of domestic violence has access to a special court procedure through which they can very quickly obtain a court order requiring the abuser to leave the shared residence and prohibiting them from coming within a specified distance of it. Under current regulations, the court is required to schedule a hearing in such cases within one month of receiving the petition; in the context of court proceedings, this is an almost lightning-fast pace compared to proceedings in other cases. Of course, in practice, a hearing is rarely scheduled that quickly; nevertheless, the courts do make an effort to set dates for these cases within 2–3 months of receiving the petition.
The ruling of the court of first instance is immediately enforceable, and therefore the “perpetrator of domestic violence” may still appeal an unfavorable ruling to the court of second instance, but must nevertheless move out of the apartment or other place of residence within the time limit set by the court of first instance. The person required to leave the residence may take their belongings and pets only in the presence of a police officer or a member of the Military Police. They may carry out this removal of their belongings and pets only twice.
In addition, as part of this procedure, a victim of violence may petition the court to order the perpetrator to refrain from contacting her and to stay a certain distance away from her.
This procedure applies to perpetrators of both physical and psychological violence. If the court issues a ruling granting the victim’s request, this may also result in the prosecutor’s office initiating criminal proceedings for the crime of abuse.
It is, therefore, an atypical, quasi-criminal procedure that allows for the rapid removal of the perpetrator of domestic violence from the shared residence.
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