New measures to prevent stalking and protect victims have come into effect.
The new provisions, announced by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, will allow for someone who has been subjected to stalking behaviour to apply to the District Court for a civil order to prohibit such behaviour continuing.
The new system of civil orders allows for earlier intervention without requiring the level of proof needed to secure a criminal conviction.
The measures extend protections currently available to certain victims, to all victims of stalking behaviour, regardless of their relationship with the perpetrator.
Before now, the legislation only applied in the case where the perpetrator was a current or former partner.
The new provisions also allow the court to grant an interim order pending the final determination of the application, where the court deems it necessary and proportionate for the safety and welfare of the applicant.
These interim orders are designed to provide victims with immediate protection against ongoing offending behaviour while they await the determination of their application.
Ms McEntee said providing civil orders to prevent stalking is "an important step forward in our work to tackle all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, regardless of the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator".
"Stalking can have very serious impacts on people subjected to it and I am introducing robust legislation to ensure that everyone has what is needed to ensure they are protected and safe, and feel safe," she said.
The legislation which came into force today follows legislation introduced in November 2023 which created a new standalone offence of stalking and introduced tougher sentences for domestic violence.
The standalone offence of stalking has a maximum sentence of ten years.
Chief Executive of Women's Aid Sarah Benson welcomed the new measures, saying that being able to get a safety order can "prevent an escalation of dangerous stalking".
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, she said that people may have assumed that if someone were being stalked and they could apply for a restraining order, "but actually, until today, anyone in that terrifying situation would first have had to pursue criminal proceedings against somebody."
"And we all know that a criminal process can take years sometimes, and it was only at the conclusion of a criminal trial that somebody who was a victim of stalking could then have a restraining order against the perpetrator of the abuse."
Ms Benson said that as the law only comes into effect today, the process has not yet been tested.
"We haven't seen it tested in the court. But basically what a person who is being targeted by stalking behaviours would need to present to the court would be evidence of behaviour by the other party.
