BCBritish Columbia's ''[https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/criminal-justice/bc-prosecution-service/crown-counsel-policy-manual Crown Counsel Policy Manual]'' states that incidents of intimate partner violence are a "very serious, prevalent, and complex problem" that require a special response by prosecutors. As a result, if your partner or another person makes a report to the police about domestic family violence, you may be arrested and you could be taken to jail overnight.

Typically, bail Bail conditions includetypically required you to: * not to have contact with the person you are charged with harming, either directly or indirectly,* not to go to their the person's home, school, or workplace, and* to keep the peace and be of good behaviour

If there You have a right to contact a lawyer when you are family law proceedings in civil courtarrested. Most importantly, make sure that your family you have a right to have a lawyer is aware of represent you at your arrest and the criminal proceedings, especially if you have childrenbail hearing. Call one.

If there are family law proceedings in civil court, make sure that your family law lawyer is aware of your arrest and the criminal proceedings, especially if you have children. Whether or not you have a criminal lawyer representing you, make sure you speak to duty counsel before your bail hearing. Duty counsel are lawyers paid by Legal Aid BC to give advice and provide limited help to people who have been arrested and do not have legal representationa lawyer. Usually, duty Duty counsel will usually try to speak to everyone who has been arrested before the their bail hearing. However, if the number of people waiting in court cells for a bail hearing is high, you may not have very much time with them. You will want to ensure that the terms of your recognizance are fair, not too restrictive, and don't interfere with your ability to see your children or go to school or work. Under certain circumstances, you may not be released from custody, regardless of the conditions you're prepared to agree to. This will depend on factors such as the gravity of the alleged offence, any history you have of related criminal convictions, and the opinion of Crown crown counsel given the circumstances of the alleged offence.

'''Communication with your spouse''': Do not talk People sometimes want to the complainant if your recognizance does not allow you to communicate with themback together, or even if they contact youjust talk about things, after an arrest has been made. No matter who initiates the contact, communicating with Sometimes the complainant is still a breach of the terms of your recognizance and you may face criminal charges for will decide that breach, as well as they want to "drop the other charges." A couple of points need to be mentioned.

* '''ReconciliationDropping the charges''': Criminal charges are laid by crown counsel, not by the complainant. The complainant cannot drop the charges. Only crown counsel can do that.* '''Communicating with the complainant''': Do not talk to the complainant if your recognizance does not allow you to communicate with them, even if they contact you. No matter who initiates the contact, communicating with the complainant is still a breach of the terms of your recognizance and you may face criminal charges for that breach, as well as the other charges.* '''Reconciling''': If the complainant truly wishes really wants to get back together with you, they must talk to Crown crown counsel and ask that the terms of your recognizance be changed to allow you to communicate with each other or to share the same residence. There must be a hearing to vary the terms of the recognizance before those terms will be officially changed.