5.—(1) If, on the making of an application for a safety order or a barring order or between the making of such an application and its determination, the court is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the safety or welfare of the applicant for the order concerned or of any dependent person so requires, the court may by order (in this Act referred to as a “protection order”) direct that the respondent to the application—

(a) shall not use or threaten to use violence against, molest or put in fear the applicant or that dependent person, and

(b) if he or she is residing at a place other than the place where the applicant or that dependent person resides, shall not watch or beset the place where the applicant or that dependent person resides,

and the court may make the protection order subject to such exceptions and conditions as it may specify.

(2) Where a protection order has been made, any of the following may apply to have it varied, that is to say:

(a) if the application for the order was made by F14[the F15[Child and Family Agency]] in respect of any dependent person by virtue of section 6—

(i) F14[the F15[Child and Family Agency]],

(ii) the person referred to in subsection (1) (c) of that section, or

(iii) the respondent to that application;

(b) if the application for the order was made by F14[the F15[Child and Family Agency]] in any other case by virtue of section 6—

(i) F14[the F15[Child and Family Agency]],

(ii) the person who was the applicant for the order, or

(iii) the respondent to that application;

(c) in any other case—

(i) the person who was the applicant for the order, or

(ii) the person who was the respondent to the application for the order,

and the court upon hearing any such application shall make such order as it considers appropriate in the circumstances.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), a protection order made by a court on appeal from another court shall be treated as if it had been made by that other court.

F16[(4) A protection order may be made ex parte.]

(5) A protection order shall cease to have effect on the determination by the court of the application for a safety order or a barring order.

(6) Notwithstanding subsection (5), so much of a protection order as was made for the benefit of a dependent person shall cease to have effect in accordance with that subsection or upon such person ceasing to be a dependent person, whichever first occurs.

(7) For the purposes of this section, an applicant or a dependent person who would, but for the conduct of the respondent, be residing at a place shall be treated as residing at such place.