How do I get a protection order in Trinidad and Tobago?

Who can apply

You can apply if you are in a "domestic relationship" with the respondent (Domestic Violence Act (Chapter 45:56), ss 3(1), 4(1)). That includes a current or former spouse, fiancé(e) or cohabitant (an opposite-sex partner living with the respondent as husband or wife), a relative, child or dependant, a member of the same household, the other parent of the respondent's child, and a current or former visiting or dating partner. A dating relationship means you do not live together but may have romantic, intimate or sexual relations. Since 2020 neither needs a minimum length.

A child under 16 applies through a parent or other responsible adult or the Children's Authority, and from 16 can apply alone, although the court can require a parent or other adult to conduct the case (s 4(2)–(4)). A police officer, probation officer, social worker or the Children's Authority can also apply for you (s 4(7)).

What counts as domestic violence

Domestic violence includes physical, sexual, emotional or psychological, and financial abuse (s 3(1)). Emotional or psychological abuse includes threats, following or watching you, unwelcome contact by phone or electronically, sharing intimate images, cutting you off from family and friends, other controlling or coercive behaviour, and anything that makes you fear for your safety or your child's. Causing or allowing a child to see, hear or experience the effects of such abuse is itself abuse of the child, but the person who suffers the abuse is not treated as having caused or allowed it (s 3(2)–(3)). The court cannot refuse an order only because there was a single act, omission or threat (s 5(3)).

How to apply, and emergency orders

File Form 1 at the Family Court, or at the Children Court if the application concerns a child. A magistrate can also hear it (s 10; Family and Children Division Act 2016, ss 3(1), 59; Miscellaneous Provisions (Supreme Court of Judicature and Children) Act 2018, s 14), but these applications have since moved to the Family Court for some districts, including Port of Spain and Chaguanas (since 1 July 2021) and Tobago (since 12 September 2025), so check which court serves your district. There is no court fee in the magistrates' court (Summary Courts (Fees) Rules 2020, Schedule, item 6). The Director of Legal Aid can issue an emergency legal aid certificate if you are likely to qualify for legal aid and it is in the interests of justice that you get it urgently (Legal Aid and Advice Act (Chapter 7:07), s 16A). The hearing is fixed within 7 days of filing (within 21 days if the court has to order substituted service), the court arranges service, and the hearing is in private unless the court directs otherwise (Chapter 45:56, ss 10(3), 11, 12). In the Family Court and Children Court, these applications are heard even during court vacations (Family Proceedings Rules 1998, r 40.2(2)(a); Children Court Rules 2018, r 24.2(2)(b), both as substituted from 1 July 2026).

Before the hearing, the court can make an interim order if needed for your safety, even if the respondent is absent or unaware. It lasts until it is revoked, the application ends, or a protection order is made (s 8).

When the court is closed or cannot be reached, and you have suffered or are in imminent danger of serious physical injury, a police officer of Assistant Superintendent rank or above (or the Children's Authority, for a child) can apply for you by telephone or video. If satisfied that the urgency requires it, a Family Court or Children Court judge or master can grant an interim order without a written application. The police must then file the application within 48 hours or, failing that, at the court's next sitting, and serve the order on the respondent at once (s 19A).

What an order can do, and for how long

An order can forbid violence or threats, direct or indirect communication, and coming to your home, workplace or school or within a set distance of you. It can make the respondent leave the home or let you occupy it, return property, compensate you for losses, pay rent, mortgage or utilities, pay interim support where there is no maintenance order, surrender firearms, or attend counselling (s 6(1)). It can also refuse the respondent contact with a child, or order structured contact (s 6(1A)). It covers your children and the respondent's unless the court orders otherwise (s 6A).

An order lasts as long as the court sets, up to 3 years, and either party can apply to vary or revoke it (ss 6(9), 19). A court that convicts the abuser of a serious offence, such as wounding or rape, can, with the victim's consent, make or extend an order for longer (s 20A).

Breach and the police

The respondent is bound once present when the order is made, or once served with it (s 18). Breach is an offence: a first conviction carries a fine of up to TT$50,000, imprisonment for up to 1 year, or both. The maximums rise to $150,000 and 3 years for a second conviction, and $250,000 and 5 years after that (s 20(1); Interpretation Act (Chapter 3:01), s 68). A police officer who believes on reasonable grounds that an order has been breached can arrest without a warrant (Chapter 45:56, s 24). The police must respond to, record and investigate every domestic violence report, and give you a copy of the record (s 21A).