When a family court decides not to order a protective disposition, who may complain against that decision, before which bench, and on what ground?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
For a practice exercise of this kind, we read the written decision by which the court declined to dispose, any paper showing when the applicant or victim was notified of that decision, the complaint application itself, and the name of the person or agency that filed it, since the provision turns on who complains and on the date of notification.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading holds that where the court decides not to dispose under the provision on protective disposition against violence in the family and that decision is manifestly unfair, the prosecutor, the victim, or the victim's legal representative may lodge the complaint, which must be lodged within the period the provision sets, counted from the day the decision was notified.
Another reading stresses that for a decision not to dispose the only stated ground is that the decision is manifestly unfair, while the cross-application of the first paragraph concerns the appellate court, so a complaint alleging no more than a statute violation affecting the decision or a serious misapprehension of fact does not rest on the ground this paragraph names.
Your judgment
What in the record would show that a decision not to dispose is manifestly unfair rather than merely open to doubt?
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 change who may complain or the stated ground, or if a court decision explains what makes such a decision manifestly unfair.