CRIMINAL LAWYERS IN SYDNEY FOR AVO

Going to court for an AVO? Don’t risk it. Criminal Law Centre is here to help you!

Paul Wiggins has over 38-years’ experience & 4,500 court appearances. He can talk to you about everything you need to know about your AVO case and the court process. This is his specialty.

Criminal Law Centre can stand by you, represent you and fight for you in court.

WHAT IS AVO?

An AVO stands for ‘apprehended violence order’. AVO’s are a preventative measure from having someone stalk, intimidate, assault, threaten, harass, molest or interfere with your day-to-day life, including a person the protected person is in a relationship with. The words stalk, intimidate etc. are interpreted very widely.

There are two types of Apprehended Violence Orders (or AVO’s):

1. Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (ADVO’s): being a Court order that protects a person from violence, threats and harassment from a spouse, de facto partner, ex-partner, family member, carer or person, who generally lives in the same home. These are applications generally made through a Police Officer, and are sometimes accompanied with substantive criminal charges.
2. Apprehended Personal Violence Orders (AVPOs): being a Court order protecting a person from violence, threats and harassment from anyone you are not in a domestic or family relationship with, and have never been in a relationship in. These are applications generally made through a private solicitor.

HOW WILL AN AVO AFFECT ME?

AVO’s can be made by consent and without admission. They are not a criminal conviction. However, certain activities including having a Security Industry licence or a firearms licence cannot occur if an AVO is in force or, has previously been made and has expired, in certain circumstances.

BREACH OF AVOS

Breaching an AVO condition can result in serious criminal charges, which courts treat very seriously. There are various defences to breach of AVO charges, that include self-defence and lack of knowledge.

Our specialist AVO lawyer can talk to you about this with a full case appraisal. We’ve achieved high success in defending breach of AVO charges and avoided criminal convictions in court countless times.