In a domestic protection case, which rules on witness examination, expert examination, interpretation and translation does the court follow, and how far may it depart from those rules?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In the practice file of this kind we read the hearing transcript, which shows how the witness was actually examined, the order appointing an expert or an interpreter or translator, and any paper showing the relationship between the parties or a protective order, since the borrowed rules reach the case only within the range that does not contravene the nature of a domestic protection case.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision at its word: where the court examines a witness, orders an expert examination, or has interpretation or translation done, the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act on those matters are applied to the domestic protection case, so the court works with the same procedural machinery that a criminal court uses.
Another reading stresses the limit the provision attaches to that borrowing: the Act's rules apply only 'within the range that does not contravene the nature of a domestic protection case', so a rule that sits badly with a case of this kind may be applied differently.
Your judgment
Which rule borrowed from the Criminal Procedure Act would have to bend here, and what in the record shows that following it as written would contravene the nature of this domestic protection case?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to name or limit the borrowed rules, or if a court decision explains which rules of the Criminal Procedure Act contravene the nature of a domestic protection case and how that is shown in the record.