This Act of Scottish Parliament came into force after a report in November 2000, by the then Justice and Home Affairs Committee, which concluded that the law afforded inadequate protection to individuals at risk of abuse from other individuals and the desire to give the police more powers to protect such individuals.
The Act is in eight sections. Section 1 details the attachment of power of arrest to interdict (an interdict is a court order prohibiting a person or persons from engaging in conduct that infringes the applicant's legal rights.); Section 2 relates to the duration, extension and recall of arrest; Section 3 covers notification to police after an arrest has been made, extended or recalled, or the relevant interdict has been varied or recalled; Section 4 details the powers and duties of police; Section 5 looks at court appearances; Section 6 is an amendment of the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981; Section 7 is an interpretation section which defines terms in the Act; Section 8 includes short title and commencement information.