Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (c. 17)

PART 1 E+W Definition of “domestic abuse”

2 Definition of “personally connected” E+W

(1) For the purposes of this Act, two people are “personally connected” to each other if any of the following applies—

(a) they are, or have been, married to each other;

(b) they are, or have been, civil partners of each other;

(c) they have agreed to marry one another (whether or not the agreement has been terminated);

(d) they have entered into a civil partnership agreement (whether or not the agreement has been terminated);

(e) they are, or have been, in an intimate personal relationship with each other;

(f) they each have, or there has been a time when they each have had, a parental relationship in relation to the same child (see subsection (2));

(g) they are relatives.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(f) a person has a parental relationship in relation to a child if—

(a) the person is a parent of the child, or

(b) the person has parental responsibility for the child.

(3) In this section—

• “child” means a person under the age of 18 years;

• “civil partnership agreement” has the meaning given by section 73 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004;

• “parental responsibility” has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989 (see section 3 of that Act);

• “relative” has the meaning given by section 63(1) of the Family Law Act 1996.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 2 in force at 5.7.2021 for specified purposes by S.I. 2021/797, reg. 2(1)

I2 S. 2 in force at 1.10.2021 in so far as not already in force by S.I. 2021/1038, reg. 2(b)