Civil protection orders when crossing jurisdictional lines: Gaps in the law and a call for reform to better protect victims of domestic abuse

The prevalence of domestic abuse cases where the parties have ties to multiple jurisdictions has been documented in case law and academic scholarship. The focus of this chapter will be on the internationalisation of civil protection orders and the extent to which these measures are able to protect victims of domestic abuse as they cross state borders. It is argued that the current legal response falls short of providing a comprehensive and uniform mechanism for a civil protection order obtained in one country to be recognised and enforced in another and that this presents a gap in protecting victims from secondary and repeated victimisation, intimidation and retaliation. In identifying gaps and weaknesses in the protection offered and the associated challenges for victims, this chapter will then go on to examine how the law might be reformed. Such reform will consider the need for a more unified response by institutions such as the Hague Conference on Private International Law in order to create a convention that could be acceded to on a more global scale. The pressing need for change, it is argued, has been heighted by the United Kingdom ratifying the Istanbul Convention and leaving the European Union.