The Ministry of Justice has made S.I. 2025/1222 to amend commencement and saving provisions for the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Part 3 pilot. Signed on 20 November 2025 and in force from 21 November 2025, the instrument applies in England and Wales and is issued free of charge to recipients of S.I. 2025/515.
The amendment moves the pilot end date previously set in earlier commencement regulations to 31 March 2026. Regulation 1(2)(g) of the No. 6 Regulations (S.I. 2024/1191) had defined the “specified period” as 27 November 2024 to 26 November 2025; the new instrument replaces the end date. Parallel date changes are made to the No. 8 Regulations (S.I. 2025/319) and the No. 9 Regulations (S.I. 2025/515).
Alongside the extension, the instrument revises the saving provisions in the No. 9 Regulations to remove ambiguity identified by Parliament’s Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (JCSI). It explicitly preserves the continued effect of Part 3 where applications for permission to appeal or appeals in DAPO matters are lodged before the end of the specified period, and where refusals could still be appealed within time.
The JCSI’s Twenty-Seventh Report of Session 2024–25 reported S.I. 2025/515 for defective drafting, noting gaps around appeals and the scope of purposes covered by the savings. The Ministry of Justice undertook to amend the instrument; S.I. 2025/1222 delivers those corrections by ensuring the savings apply for all relevant purposes, including appeal routes on decisions not to make a DAPO.
A new definition is inserted to confirm when an appeal is “finally determined”: only once decided and all routes of further appeal are exhausted. This provides a clear endpoint for the savings and reduces the risk of orders or proceedings falling out of scope mid-process during the pilot wind‑down.
The pilot geography remains unchanged. Under S.I. 2025/515, the specified areas in North Wales are the counties of the Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Denbighshire and Flintshire and the county boroughs of Conwy and Wrexham. Under S.I. 2025/319, Cleveland is defined as the non‑metropolitan districts of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton‑on‑Tees.
Operationally, the extension avoids a 26 November 2025 “cliff‑edge” and keeps DAPNs and DAPOs functioning under Part 3 through to 31 March 2026. Ongoing applications, proceedings under section 31, and orders already in force continue on the same legal footing, with enforcement, variation, discharge and appeal preserved by the savings framework.
Part 3 continues to be commenced “except section 55”, so the statutory repeal of Domestic Violence Protection Notices and Orders does not take effect during the pilot. For forces and courts, that means the legacy DVPN/DVPO regime remains available alongside the DAPN/DAPO pilot.
The instrument records that it is made in part in consequence of a defect in S.I. 2025/515 and is issued free of charge to known recipients of that instrument, reflecting the MoJ’s response to parliamentary scrutiny. No new impact assessment accompanies the amendment, consistent with prior commencement instruments for the pilot.
For practitioners, the legal architecture is unchanged in substance but clearer in operation. A DAPN is a police‑issued notice under section 22; a DAPO is a court order under section 27, which may be made on application or in the course of family, criminal or civil proceedings as set out in section 31. The amended savings ensure these mechanisms remain effective for live and appeal‑stage cases throughout the extended pilot.