A restraining order imposed by the court provides a number of protection remedies to ensure a victim’s safety.
The exact content of the restraining order is determined by the court. The court may, for example, decide that the perpetrator may not:
- be in the vicinity of the person in need of protection;
- be in the vicinity of a building where the person in need of protection lives, studies, works or for other reasons is often present.
When deciding the extent to which the perpetrator must avoid the person in need of protection, the court takes into account the principle of proportionality and the circumstances of the individual case. In practice, some of the examples of what can be ordered include keeping a distance of 100 meters from the person, 50 meters in public places, and 1 meter in public transport. In individual cases, the distance set by the restraining order may be further than 100 meters. A restraining order may also be imposed in such a way that it is prohibited to stay in or near the dwelling, workplace, school, kindergarten, hobby group of the person in need of protection.
Often, it is not enough to restrict physical access to another person in order to protect the person's rights and ensure security, but it is also necessary to regulate communication. The court can prohibit the perpetrator to contact the person in need of protection both directly and through all means of communication (phone, post, e-mail, social media, etc.).
If the perpetrator and the person in need of protection share a common home, it may also be necessary to regulate the conditions of use of the home by the court.