Clause 4 - Extension of Part 4 of 1996 Act to non-cohabiting couples
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill [Lords]
3:00 pm
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Shadow Minister, Home, Constitutional & Legal Affairs; Chesham and Amersham, Conservative)
This, too, is a probing amendment to attempt to discover the thinking behind the drafting of clause 4. In recognition of the complexities of relationships, the clause extends the use of non-molestation orders to people who have never been married or who have never even cohabited; they are extended so that they apply to homes that the parties have either lived in or intended to live in.
The clause widens the definition of associated persons through proposed new paragraph (ea), which states that
''they have or have had an intimate personal relationship with each other which is or was of significant duration''.
In seeking to probe further the nature of these relationships and the reasons for the inclusion of duration as a test, I ask the Minister to run through his definitions or examples of such relationships. Because of what was said in the other place and what is in the notes on clauses, I presume that one-night stands are ruled out. However, the notes on clauses also exclude platonic friends, while covering
''a long-standing relationship which may, or may not, be a sexual relationship'' .
I would be interested to hear how the Minister thinks that the court will make that judgment and what standard of proof will be applied, and whether it is possible to make that fine judgment between what is essentially a platonic relationship and an intimate personal relationship. The difference that he draws between the two will be interesting.
Why is duration included here at this stage, as it does not apply to other family members associated either by blood or by affinity? What in the Minister's mind will constitute significant duration as opposed to long-standing duration, for example? If the Minister's interpretation of ''significant'' could be shared with the Committee, we would all be grateful.