There are three Intimate Partner Violence Intervention Courts (IPVIC) in the province; a permanent court in St. John’s and pilot courts in Grand Falls-Windsor and Stephenville.
St. John’s
When the police lay a charge in intimate partner violence matters, the accused may be required to appear on a Thursday at 2:00pm. This allows the IPVIC team to be available to speak to the accused, who may have questions about the court. If the accused wishes to learn more about the court, a meeting time will be arranged with a team member of the IPVIC. This team member is most often the IPVIC Legal Aid defence lawyer. Anything discussed is confidential and cannot be shared with anyone else without consent. This promise of confidentiality is known as solicitor-client privilege. If the accused would like to know further about the IPVIC, an appointment will be scheduled with the Risk Assessment Officer to complete a risk assessment (RA) to ensure suitability of the accused for this court. Once a RA is scheduled, the matter will be set to a Wednesday at 2:00pm.
Stephenville
When the police lay a charge in intimate partner violence matters, the accused may be required to appear on a Monday at 1:30pm. This allows the IPVIC team to be available to speak to the accused, who may have questions about the court. If the accused wishes to learn more about the court, a meeting time will be arranged with a team member of the IPVIC. This team member is most often the IPVIC defence lawyer. Anything discussed is confidential and cannot be shared with anyone else without consent. This promise of confidentiality is known as solicitor-client privilege. If the accused would like to know further about the IPVIC, an appointment will be scheduled with the Risk Assessment Officer to complete a risk assessment (RA) to ensure suitability of the accused for this court. Once a RA is scheduled the matter will be set to a Wednesday at 2:00pm.
Grand Falls – Windsor
When the police lay a charge in intimate partner violence matters, the accused will be required to appear on a Wednesday at 3:00pm. This allows the IPVIC team to be available to speak to the accused, who may have questions about the court. If the accused wishes to learn more about the court, a meeting time will be arranged with a team member of the IPVIC. This team member is most often the IPVIC defence lawyer. Anything discussed is confidential and cannot be shared with anyone else without consent. This promise of confidentiality is known as solicitor-client privilege. If the accused would like to know further about the IPVIC an appointment will be scheduled with the Risk Assessment Officer to complete a risk assessment (RA) to ensure suitability of the accused for this court. Once a RA is scheduled the matter will be set to a Wednesday at 3:00pm.
Once the accused from any court centre has met all of the eligibility requirements and decides to participate, they will appear in IPVIC and enter a guilty plea. An agreed statement of facts will be read to the court. Following a guilty plea and a finding of guilt by the judge, the case will be adjourned for sentencing until the accused finishes the Intimate Partner Violence programming. The accused will be released on conditions, as recommended by counsel and determined by the judge, including a condition that they participate in intimate partner violence programming and return to court for periodic updates. Throughout this period, the accused will be required to meet with the Bail Supervisor who will provide the Intimate Partner Violence Intervention Court with updates on the progress of the accused.