How are court orders enforced?
There are several different avenues in which a court order may be enforced. To immediately address a violation that is occurring such as a failure to return a child following a visitation (or the reverse situation where the custodial parent does not produce the child for visitation) the aggrieved party may call the police and report the violation. The police may assist in enforcing the court order, or they may just write an incident report, or the police may do nothing at all. Additionally, a party may file a contempt proceeding charging the other party with contempt of the court order. In such a proceeding the matter is treated as a criminal proceeding with the filing party acting as the prosecutor who must prove the violation to the court by a very high standard of proof (“beyond a reasonable doubt”). The offending party is called the defendant in such a proceeding and is entitled to all the same protections as a criminal defendant such as the right to remain silent and the right to
