Legislation should provide that orders for protection may be left in place for a minimum of one year.

Ideally, a protection order should be left in place permanently, and only terminated by a finding by a court, based on clear evidence, that there is no longer any danger to the complainant/survivor. That way, a complainant/survivor does not have to appear in court and possibly confront her abuser on a regular basis. The law should state that the termination of an order for protection must be the responsibility of the court.

The law of Minnesota, USA, allows orders for protection to be extended for up to 50 years under certain conditions:

Relief granted by the order for protection may be for a period of up to 50 years, if the court finds: (1) the respondent violated a prior or existing order for protection on two or more occasions; or (2) the petitioner has had two or more orders for protection in effect against the same respondent. Subd. 6a (b)

Promising practice: The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005) of India states that a protection order shall be in force until the complainant/survivor applies for discharge, or until the Magistrate, upon receipt of an application from the complainant/survivor or the respondent, is satisfied that there is a change in the circumstances, requiring alteration, modification or revocation of the protection order.  Ch. IV, 25.