Part 3: Powers for dealing with domestic abuse Section 39: Breach of order
This section provides that it is an offence to breach any requirement of a DAPO without reasonable excuse (subsection (1)). In the case of a DAPO made against a perpetrator who was not given notice of the proceedings, the offence only operates from the time he or she was made aware of the existence of the order (subsection (2)).
	The maximum penalty for breach on conviction in a magistrates’ court ("summary conviction") is imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or a fine, or both. The maximum penalty for breach on conviction in a Crown Court ("conviction on indictment") is imprisonment for a maximum term of five years, or a fine, or both (subsection (5)).
	Subsection (6) provides that a conditional discharge is not an option open to the court in respect of the offence. Subsection (7) makes similar provision where a service court convicts someone of the section 39 offence. A conditional discharge means that if the offender commits another offence within a specified period, they can be sentenced for the first offence at the same time as the new offence.
	As an alternative to prosecution for the offence under subsection (1), breach of a DAPO may be dealt with as a civil contempt of court (the maximum penalty for which is two years’ imprisonment or a fine or both except in a magistrates’ court where the maximum penalty is two months’ imprisonment or a fine). Subsection (3) and (4) set out that where any breach has been punished as a contempt of court, it may not also be punished as an offence under this section, and vice-versa. This is to ensure that the subject of a DAPO is not punished twice for the same failure to comply with the requirements of the order.