Protection against violence & harassment

Any protection measures (restraining, barring or a similar protection order) granted by a national court can be enforced in another EU country.

Right to continue to benefit from protection measures when moving to another Member State

To effectively protect you as a victim (in particular a victim of different forms of domestic violence and stalking) from violence and harassment, national authorities can often grant you specific measures (restraining, barring or a similar protection order) which help preventing further aggression or further assault by the offender. If you have been granted a protection order in a Member State you may wish to continue to benefit from this protection when moving or travelling to another Member State. To this end, the EU put in place a mechanism for the mutual recognition of protection measures.

National protection measures can be of civil, criminal or administrative law in nature and their duration, scope and procedures of adoption vary among the Member States. Due to separate legal bases in EU law for mutual recognition of civil law measures and criminal law measures, two separate instruments were required to ensure the circulation of the three most common types of protection measures within the EU. Protection orders covered by the Directive and the Regulation concern situations where you as a victim, or potential victim, of crime benefit from a prohibition or regulation of entering certain places, being contacted by or approached by a person causing risk.

The Regulation (EU) No. 606/2013 mutual recognition of protection measures in civil matters sets up a mechanism allowing for a direct recognition of protection orders issued as a civil law measure between Member States.

Thus if you benefit from a civil law protection order issued in the Member State of your residence you may invoke it directly in other Member States by obtaining a certificate and presenting it to the relevant authorities certifying your rights.

The Regulation applies as of 11 January 2015.

However, if you benefit from a protection order in criminal matters issued in one Member State you may request a European Protection Order on basis of the Directive 2011/99/EU on the European Protection Order (EPO) which sets up a mechanism allowing for the recognition of protection orders issued as a criminal law measure between Member States.

Last update: 06/10/2020

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