The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 - Latest Reforms for Criminal Lawyers

Introduction

Big changes are coming to the way domestic abuse cases are handled in the courts and they are closer than you think.

Recent Statutory Instruments from 2024 and 2025 are reshaping the legal landscape by replacing Domestic Violence Protection Notices and Orders with the new Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Orders. These reforms are being phased in gradually, but their impact will be felt swiftly and widely.

If you work in or around the Magistrates’ Court, you will want to be prepared. These new measures are likely to appear soon and understanding them now will put you ahead of the curve.

What You Will Learn

This short webinar will cover the following:

• Statutory instrument 2024 No. 1191 and the pilot conducted in the London Boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Sutton and the Metropolitan District of Greater Manchester
• Statutory Instrument 2025 No. 319 and the pilot being conducted in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees
• Statutory Instrument 2025 No. 261 extending the pilot to Cleveland
• Statutory Instrument 2025 No. 515 dealing with the pilot in the areas of the Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Denbighshire, Flintshire and the County Boroughs of Conwy and Wrexham
• The introduction of Part 3 of the Act (save for Section 55) in the above pilot areas concerning the introduction of Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Domestic Abuse Protection Orders
• The length of the new Orders in the pilot areas
• The circumstances in which the new Orders may be made in the pilot areas
• Notification Requirements under the new Orders
• Penalties for breach of the new Orders
• The legal aid position - civil legal aid rather than criminal legal aid - this is not good news!
• The requirements that may be contained within the Notices and the Orders
• Section 55, when enacted, will repeal Domestic Violence Protection Notices and Domestic Violence Protection Orders throughout England and Wales

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Monday 30th March 2026

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 1,900+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.