7. (1) In this section “applicant” means a person (other than the Agency) who has applied, or a person on whose behalf the Agency has applied by virtue of section 11, for a barring order against another person (in this section referred to as “the respondent”) and the person so applying or on whose behalf the Agency has so applied—

(a) is the spouse of the respondent,

(b) is the civil partner of the respondent,

(c) is not the spouse or civil partner of the respondent and is not related to the respondent within a prohibited degree of relationship but lived with the respondent in an intimate relationship prior to the application for the barring order, or

(d) is a parent of the respondent and the respondent is a person of full age who is not, in relation to the parent, a dependent person.

(2) (a) Where the court, on application to it, is of the opinion, having taken into account any order made or to be made to which paragraph (a) or (d) of section 15(2) relates, that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the safety or welfare of the applicant or a dependent person so requires, it shall, subject to section 12, by order (in this Act referred to as a “barring order”)—

(i) direct the respondent, if residing at a place where the applicant or the dependent person resides, to leave the place, and

(ii) whether the respondent is or is not residing at a place where the applicant or the dependent person resides, prohibit the respondent from entering the place until further order of the court or until such other time as the court shall specify.

(b) In deciding whether or not to make a barring order the court shall have regard to the safety and welfare of any dependent person in respect of whom the respondent is a parent or in loco parentis, where the dependent person is residing at the place to which the order, if made, would relate.

(3) A barring order may, if the court thinks fit, prohibit the respondent from doing one or more of the following:

(a) using or threatening to use violence against, molesting or putting in fear, the applicant or a dependent person;

(b) attending at or in the vicinity of, or watching or besetting, a place where the applicant or a dependent person resides;

(c) following or communicating (including by electronic means) with the applicant or a dependent person.

(4) A barring order may be subject to such exceptions and conditions as the court may specify.

(5) For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3) 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 that place.

(6) (a) In respect of a person who is an applicant by virtue of paragraph (c) or (d) of subsection (1), the court shall not make a barring order in respect of the place where the applicant or dependent person resides where the respondent has a legal or beneficial interest in that place and—

(i) the applicant has no legal or beneficial interest, or

(ii) the applicant’s legal or beneficial interest is, in the opinion of the court, less than that of the respondent.

(b) Where in proceedings to which this section applies the applicant states the belief, in respect of the place to which paragraph (a) relates, that he or she has a legal or beneficial interest in that place which is not less than that of the respondent, then that belief shall be admissible in evidence.

(7) Without prejudice to section 32, nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the rights of any person, other than the applicant or the respondent, who has a legal or beneficial interest in a place in respect of which the court has made an order under this section.

(8) A barring order, if made by the District Court, or by the Circuit Court on appeal from the District Court, shall, subject to subsection (9) and section 21, expire three years after the date of its making or on the expiration of such shorter period as the court may provide for in the order.

(9) On or before the expiration of a barring order to which subsection (8) relates, a further barring order may be made by the District Court, or by the Circuit Court on appeal from the District Court, for a period of three years or such shorter period as the court may provide for in the order and that further barring order shall take effect from the expiration of the first-mentioned order.

(10) On or before the expiration of a barring order, other than a barring order to which subsection (8) relates, a further barring order may be made by the District Court, or by the Circuit Court on appeal from the District Court, for a period of three years or such shorter period as the court may provide for in the order and that further barring order shall take effect from the date of expiration of the first-mentioned order.

(11) The court shall not, on an application for a safety order, make a barring order unless there is also an application for a barring order before the court concerning the same matter.

(12) Where a barring order has been made, any of the following may apply to have the order varied:

(a) where the application for the order was made by the Agency in respect of a dependent person by virtue of section 11 —

(i) the Agency,

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

(iii) the respondent to that application;

(b) where the application for the order was made by the Agency in respect of any other person (other than a dependent person referred to in paragraph (a)) by virtue of section 11 —

(i) the Agency,

(ii) the applicant for the order, or

(iii) the respondent to that application;

(c) in any other case—

(i) the applicant for the order, or

(ii) the respondent to the application for that order.

(13) The court may, upon hearing an application under subsection (12), make such order varying the barring order as it considers appropriate in the circumstances.

(14) For the purposes of making an application under subsection (12), a barring order made by a court on appeal from another court shall be treated as if it had been made by that other court.