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> Press Release: April
2, 2002 |
National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
211 E. Ontario St., Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60611
tel 312-915-0195, fax 312-915-0187
For Immediate Release
Uniform State Law Better Serves Needs of Victims of Domestic Violence
April 2, 2002 — A uniform state law recently enacted in Idaho and
introduced in nine other legislatures this year represents an important
step in improving the enforcement of domestic violence protection orders
from other states. The Uniform Interstate Enforcement of Domestic Violence
Protection Orders Act, drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners
on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) and approved by that organization in 2000,
enables courts to recognize and enforce valid domestic protection orders
issued in other jurisdictions.
The legislation provides a uniform set of procedures and rules to facilitate
the interstate enforcement of civil and qualified criminal domestic protection
orders, as stipulated in an important provision of the 1994 federal Violence
Against Women Act (VAWA). Referred to as the "full faith and credit" provision,
it directs states, Indian tribes and U.S. territories to honor valid protection
orders issued by other jurisdictions and to treat those orders as if they
were their own.
VAWA signified the importance of full faith and credit protection orders,
but the interstate enforcement provision left important questions unanswered,
and left states to their own discretion as how to set up procedures to
effectively implement enforcement. While some states have enacted their
own enabling legislation, these statutes vary greatly both in the method
and the extent to which the enforcement of other states' protection orders
actually occurs. The Uniform Act, if enacted nationwide, should eliminate
existing problems.
"Victims of domestic violence need protection, regardless of where the
orders protecting them are issued," says John M. McCabe, Legislative Director
of NCCUSL. "Uniform passage of the new Interstate Enforcement of Domestic
Violence Protection Orders Act will enable law enforcement officers and
courts around the country to respond immediately and effectively to the
needs of domestic violence victims."
The new Act has two purposes. It defines the meaning of full faith and
credit in the context of the enforcement of domestic violence protection
orders. It also establishes uniform procedures for their effective interstate
enforcement.
Under the Uniform Act:
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Courts must enforce the terms of protective orders of
other states as if they were their own, until such time as the expiration
of the order, regardless of which state the victim has entered. |
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Enforcing states must enforce all the terms of the order,
even if that order provides relief that would be unavailable under
the laws of the enforcing jurisdiction. |
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Terms of orders that concern custody and visitation
matters are enforceable, if issued for the purpose of protection.
Terms that concern support are not enforceable under this Act, but
are enforceable under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, the
law in every state. |
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Enforcement mechanisms must be applied to orders issued
before the effective date of the Uniform Act. |
The Act also allows nonjudicial enforcement of protection orders. Law
enforcement officers may rely on the terms of a protection order presented
to them from another state, and act quickly to enforce that order, thereby
safeguarding the protected person. Law enforcement officers, as well as
other government agencies, will be encouraged to rely on probable cause
judgments by the Act's inclusion of a broad immunity provision. No enforcing
officer or agency is liable when acting in good faith when enforcing an
order.
The Uniform Act, again filling a gap in VAWA, does not require registration
of protection orders with the enforcing state, and jurisdictions cannot
make registration a condition for full faith and credit. But the Act does
include an optional registration process to make it as easy as possible
for the protected individual to register the order and facilitate its
enforcement.
The Uniform Interstate Enforcement of Domestic Violence Protection Orders
Act has been enacted in California, Idaho, Indiana, Montana, and Texas.
It has been introduced in the legislatures of Alabama, Delaware, the District
of Columbia, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, South Dakota, Virginia, and
West Virginia.
The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws is now
in its 111th year. The organization comprises more than 350 lawyers, judges,
and law professors, appointed by the states as well as the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to draft proposals
for uniform and model laws and work toward their enactment in their legislatures.
Since its inception in 1892, the group has promulgated more than 200 acts,
among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial
Code, the Uniform Probate Code, and the Uniform Partnership Act.
For further information, please contact John McCabe, Michael Kerr,
or Katie Robinson
at 312-915-0195, or Gabrielle Bamberger at 212-333-5222.
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