restraining order

/riˈstreɪnɪŋ ˈɔrdər/

Other forms: restraining orders

A restraining order is a document issued by a judge that's meant to protect someone who's been the victim of abuse. The alleged abuser is instructed by the restraining order to stay away from the victim.

When anyone is harassed or abused, they can file for a restraining order, which instructs the abusive person to leave them alone. It's a court-ordered legal document that usually includes directions not to contact the alleged victim at all, and to stay a certain distance away from their home, school, and workplace. If the order isn't obeyed, the accused abuser may be arrested. To restrain is to "stop or prevent," from a Latin root meaning "tie back."

Definitions of restraining order

1. noun

   a legal order banning contact between people to prevent harm
2. noun

   (law) a judicial remedy issued in order to prohibit a party from doing or continuing to do a certain activity
   synonyms: cease and desist order, enjoining, enjoinment, injunction

   types:

   mandatory injunction

   injunction requiring the performance of some specific act

   final injunction, permanent injunction

   injunction issued on completion of a trial

   interlocutory injunction, temporary injunction

   injunction issued during a trial to maintain the status quo or preserve the subject matter of the litigation until the trial is over

   type of:

   ban, prohibition, proscription

   a decree that prohibits something