Domestic Abuse Protection Order (DAPO) UK: Pilot Areas and Current Status by Nation

A Domestic Abuse Protection Notice and Domestic Abuse Protection Order (DAPN/DAPO) are new, tougher protective measures created by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, but as of 28 September 2026 they exist only in a handful of pilot areas of England and Wales, not nationwide, and neither Scotland nor Northern Ireland yet has a version a person can actually apply for.

If you are in immediate danger, call 999. For support and advice: in England, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, 0808 2000 247, open 24 hours a day; in Wales, Live Fear Free, 0808 80 10 100, also open 24 hours; in Scotland, the Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline, 0800 027 1234; in Northern Ireland, the Domestic and Sexual Abuse Helpline, 0808 802 1414 (gov.uk: get help for domestic abuse).

England and Wales: a pilot, not a national scheme

Part 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 creates the Domestic Abuse Protection Notice, a police issued notice giving immediate protection, and the Domestic Abuse Protection Order, made by a criminal, civil or family court, as a tougher alternative to a non-molestation order. Section 32 sets the conditions for making an order and section 27 defines what one is (legislation.gov.uk: Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 32).

The regime has never been switched on nationally. It has been rolled out only to a growing list of pilot areas:

For an application to the family court, HMCTS says what matters is where the person you need protection from lives, and hearings are held in the pilot areas' family courts, so you may have to travel. There is no court fee for applying (gov.uk: apply for a domestic abuse protection order in a family court).

A defined set of enforcement, notification and interpretation sections was commenced across the whole of England and Wales from the same November 2024 date, so the machinery still works for a case that started in a pilot area, but the substantive power to make a DAPO exists only inside these areas.

The current end date

The pilot's end date was originally 26 November 2025, then extended to 31 March 2026, then extended again to 24 November 2026, by the Commencement No. 6, 8 and 9 and Saving Provisions (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (legislation.gov.uk: S.I. 2026/342). That later extension covers the London/Manchester, Teesside and North Wales commencement instruments (S.I. 2024/1191, 2025/319 and 2025/515). The Cleveland pilot was first commenced by S.I. 2025/261 on 5 March 2025 and restated a week later by S.I. 2025/319, which its explanatory note says clarifies "in more precise terms the additional pilot area of Cleveland"; S.I. 2025/319 is the instrument that has been extended to 24 November 2026 (legislation.gov.uk: S.I. 2025/319). The end date does not cancel orders already made: under the saving provision in S.I. 2025/515, regulation 3, which covers all the pilot areas, a DAPO in effect when the pilot ends can still be varied, discharged, enforced on breach or appealed, and a notice, application or proceedings already under way can still lead to an order (legislation.gov.uk: S.I. 2025/515, regulation 3).

What a DAPO can require, and the breach offence

A court can impose on the person subject to the order "any requirements that the court considers necessary to protect" the person the order is for, from domestic abuse or the risk of it. That can include not contacting the protected person, not coming within a specified distance of premises where they live or other named premises, and, where the two share a home, not evicting or excluding the protected person or being required to leave themselves. A DAPO can also require the person to submit to electronic monitoring of their compliance with the order (legislation.gov.uk: Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 35). It can also require the person to do things, such as attend a behaviour change programme (legislation.gov.uk: Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 27).

Breaching a DAPO without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence. On conviction on indictment, the maximum is five years' imprisonment or a fine, or both; on summary conviction, the maximum is the general limit in a magistrates' court, or a fine, or both, and a court cannot deal with the offence by way of a conditional discharge (legislation.gov.uk: Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 39). Police also have a power of arrest for a suspected breach.

Scotland: enacted in 2021, still not switched on

Scotland's own Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021 creates a parallel notice and order making regime in Part 1, sections 1 to 21. As of the access date, the only commencement made under it is the Commencement No. 1 Regulations 2025, in force 1 August 2026, and it brings into force only the "abusive behaviour" definitions and a Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 tenancy amendment, a new ground for a landlord to end a Scottish secure tenancy where the tenant has been abusive; it does not touch the notice or order making machinery itself (legislation.gov.uk: Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021, section 1). Five years after enactment, Scotland has commenced only its Part 2 social housing remedy, not the protective notice or order power. Scotland's practical protection for now remains the interdict and exclusion order route described at non-molestation and occupation orders. Note too that the Scottish Act's own gate, once commenced, would be narrower than England and Wales's: it applies only between current or former partners who live together at least some of the time, not to relatives or other associated persons.

Northern Ireland: the power exists, the order does not yet

Northern Ireland has not enacted a directly equivalent Act, but it does have an enabling power. Section 27 of the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021, headed "Protective measures for victims of abuse," has been in force since 21 February 2022, and lets the Department of Justice make regulations creating a notice and order regime closely paralleling England and Wales's Part 3, including police issued notices, court made orders, electronic monitoring, breach offences and arrest powers (legislation.gov.uk: Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021, section 27). No such regulations have yet been made. A Northern Ireland Assembly research briefing confirms the Department consulted on these notices and orders in 2021 and that a pilot is expected to be implemented in 2026 to 2027 (Northern Ireland Assembly, RaISe Briefing Paper 28/26). Until then, Northern Ireland's practical protection remains the Family Homes and Domestic Violence (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, covered at non-molestation and occupation orders.

If you are outside a pilot area

If the person you need protection from does not live in a pilot area, or you are in Scotland or Northern Ireland, a Domestic Abuse Protection Order is not available to you yet. That does not leave you without protection: non-molestation orders, occupation orders, Scottish interdicts and exclusion orders, and Northern Ireland's 1998 Order all remain fully available. See the UK family law hub for the wider list of protective options, and if you are in immediate danger call 999.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Domestic Abuse Protection Orders available everywhere in England and Wales?

No. As of 28 September 2026 they are available only in a pilot covering the London boroughs of Bromley, Croydon and Sutton, Greater Manchester, four Teesside districts, and six North Wales authorities. Nowhere else in England and Wales has them yet, and non-molestation and occupation orders remain the available protection there. For a family court application, what matters is where the person you need protection from lives, not where you live.

When does the DAPO pilot end?

The current end date for all the pilot areas is 24 November 2026, after two extensions. The end date does not cancel orders already made: a DAPO made before the pilot ends can still be varied, discharged, enforced on breach or appealed.

What can a Domestic Abuse Protection Order require someone to do?

A court can require the person not to contact the protected person, to keep away from specified premises, not to evict or exclude the protected person from a shared home or to leave it themselves, and can require electronic monitoring of their compliance with the order. It can also require the person to do things, such as attend a behaviour change programme.

What happens if someone breaches a Domestic Abuse Protection Order?

It is a criminal offence. On conviction on indictment the maximum is five years' imprisonment or a fine, or both, the same maximum as breaching a non-molestation order. Police also have a power of arrest for a suspected breach.

Does Scotland have Domestic Abuse Protection Orders?

Scotland passed its own Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021, but as of the access date has commenced only Part 2, from 1 August 2026, which lets a social landlord seek to end an abusive partner's Scottish secure tenancy so the victim can stay in the home. The actual notice and order making power has no commencement date, so there is no working Scottish equivalent yet.

Does Northern Ireland have Domestic Abuse Protection Orders?

Not yet. Northern Ireland has an enabling power in force since February 2022 letting the Department of Justice create the regime by regulations, but no regulations have been made. An Assembly briefing states a pilot is expected during 2026 to 2027.