Independent domestic violence advisor: can she come into court with me?

The legal issue

The mother had two children at primary school, and they lived with her after the separation. She said the father had slapped her and pushed her against the banister during an argument about money; a neighbour heard and called 999, and officers photographed a bruise on her arm and arrested him. Rated high risk, she was referred to a MARAC and allocated an independent domestic violence advisor (IDVA), who wrote up an earlier incident when he had thrown her phone at a wall. She also believed he had followed her car on more than one evening. Texts followed his move out, saying she would never keep the children. Months on, he issued an application for a child arrangements order, denied every allegation and accused her of making them up to block contact, and a fact-finding hearing followed. Her two questions were whether the IDVA could be in the courtroom with her and whether the advisor's records were any use as evidence.

The law this rests on

• FPR Practice Direction 27C (in force 6 April 2023) para 1.3: support may include providing information, practical support and emotional or moral support, and explaining the court process and what to expect; but an IDVA or ISVA is not a lawyer acting in the case for the party and is not a McKenzie friend.
• PD27C para 1.4: any party receiving support from an IDVA or ISVA has the right to receive that support at any hearing, subject to the court's power in para 3.1.
• PD27C para 2.1: an IDVA or ISVA supporting a party is required to attend any hearing the party attends, to provide that support, if the party wishes them to be present and they have been appropriately identified to the court.
• PD27C para 3.1: the court may direct that the IDVA or ISVA should not be present, or need not be present, if satisfied that their presence is not in, or not necessary in, the interests of justice.
• PD27C para 4.2: where advance notice is not possible, the court will require the IDVA or ISVA to give that information before the hearing begins.
• Independent Domestic Violence Adviser statutory guidance (Ministry of Justice, May 2025, issued under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024) para 29: IDVAs should not provide legal advice; where legal advice is required, they should signpost the victim to specialist legal advisers.
• PD27C para 4.1: where possible, the IDVA or ISVA should identify themselves to the court in advance, giving their name, their organisation, an assurance that they understand the confidential nature of the proceedings, the party they support and confirmation that the party wishes them to be present.
• FPR r.27.10(1) and (2): proceedings under the rules are held in private unless the rules, another enactment or the court direct otherwise; in private means the general public have no right to be present.
• FPR r.27.11(2)(g) and (6): at a private hearing, people other than those listed may be present only if the court permits or a practice direction requires it, and the court keeps its power to direct that witnesses are excluded until they are called to give evidence.
• FPR r.3A.2A(1) and (3): where it is stated that a party is, or is at risk of being, a victim of domestic abuse carried out by another party, the court must assume that the quality of their evidence and their participation are diminished, and must consider whether participation directions are needed; the note to the rule says PD27C provides for IDVAs and ISVAs to attend hearings without the need for an order of the court.
• FPR r.3A.8(1)(a) and (b): the measures include preventing a party or witness from seeing another party or witness, and allowing evidence by live link.
• FPR Practice Direction 3AA para 4.2: the court may make directions about the structure and timing of the hearing and whether, if facilities allow, the parties should enter the court building by different routes and use different waiting areas.
• FPR Practice Direction 12J para 10: if the court is told that special arrangements are needed to protect a party or child attending a hearing, the court must ensure so far as practicable that they are made, including the waiting arrangements and arrangements for entering and exiting the court building.
• PD12J para 16(c): the court should decide as soon as possible whether a fact-finding hearing is necessary before it can consider any final welfare-based order about child arrangements.
• PD12J para 19(f): the court considers whether documents are required from third parties such as the police, health services or domestic abuse support services.
• PD12J para 19(g): the court considers whether oral evidence may be required from third parties and, if so, gives directions for their written statements.
• PD12J para 36(3): the court should make an order for contact only if satisfied that the physical and emotional safety of the child and the parent with whom the child lives can, as far as possible, be secured before, during and after contact, and that the parent will not be subjected to further domestic abuse.
• PD12J para 38(a): where domestic abuse has occurred but the court considers direct contact safe and beneficial for the child, the court should consider whether it should be supervised, and if so where and by whom.
• Domestic Abuse Act 2021 s.1(3): behaviour is abusive if it consists of, among other things, physical or sexual abuse or violent or threatening behaviour, whether a single incident or a course of conduct.
• UK GDPR Article 15(1) and (3): a person has the right to obtain from a controller confirmation of whether their personal data is being processed and access to it, and the controller must provide a copy.

How we approached it

We took her through Practice Direction 27C. A party who has IDVA support is entitled to that support at any hearing; the advisor is required to attend if the party wishes and the advisor has been appropriately identified to the court; no order is needed, although the judge may direct that the advisor should not, or need not, be present if satisfied that their presence is not in, or not necessary in, the interests of justice. We also set out what an IDVA does not do: the advisor does not take the place of a lawyer, is not a McKenzie friend and, under the statutory guidance for IDVAs, should not give legal advice, so the legal side of her statement and her requests to the court stayed with her, prepared with our advice.

On evidence, we advised her to request a copy of the IDVA service's records about her under her right of access to her own personal data, and to go through all of it before relying on any page, since the father's lawyer would normally see whatever she filed. The first meeting note described the phone incident months before his application, and a repair receipt carried the same date. We advised her that the MARAC referral, which reached the court in the police disclosure, reflected a view of future risk, not a decision on what happened, so we helped her centre the schedule of allegations on the police photographs, the receipt and the message she had sent her sister on the night.

For the hearings, we advised her to ask at the first hearing for participation directions: her own waiting room, staggered arrival and departure, a screen while she gave evidence and an hourly break. Separately, we suggested she ask her IDVA to write to the court ahead of each hearing with the details paragraph 4.1 of Practice Direction 27C lists, and explained that if that could not be done in advance, the court would ask the advisor for the same details before the hearing began.

The outcome

All four arrangements she had sought at the first hearing were granted. Her IDVA stayed beside her behind the screen for both days of the fact-finding hearing, and every answer she gave was her own. The father's case was that she had hurt her arm on the stairs; the judge accepted her account, which was consistent with the police photographs and the message to her sister, and found the assault proved. The phone incident was proved on the strength of the first IDVA note and the repair receipt, and he admitted sending the texts. The allegation that he had followed her car was not proved, as it rested on her impression alone.

Applying the safety test in paragraph 36(3) of Practice Direction 12J, the court ordered a supervised visit at a contact centre once a month, with school reports and photos sent to the father through the centre each term, and fixed a review in six months. The evidence in each case is different, and this outcome is no promise about yours.

What to take from this

• Practice Direction 27C entitles a party with IDVA support to that support at any hearing, without a court order, unless the judge directs otherwise in the interests of justice.
• An IDVA helps with information and practical and emotional support, but does not take a lawyer's place or act as a McKenzie friend, so take legal advice on your statement and on what to ask the court for.
• Ask your advisor to send the court their name, their organisation, an assurance about confidentiality and confirmation that you want them there, ahead of each hearing. If that cannot happen in advance, the court will ask the advisor for those details before the hearing begins.
• Request the IDVA service's records about you and check every page before you rely on it; the other side will normally see anything you file.
• A dated note made before any court case can show your account did not begin with the proceedings. A MARAC referral weighs the risk of future harm; whether each allegation happened is for the judge to decide on the evidence.
• At the first hearing, ask for the arrangements you need, such as a separate waiting room, staggered arrival and departure, a screen and regular breaks.
• Leave every message and photo on your phone untouched, note each order's deadlines, keep the case off the internet entirely, and get advice before you change any arrangement for the children. If you feel unsafe, tell your IDVA and the police straight away, and call 999 in an emergency.