Short answer. Yes. Section 37 of the VAWC law directs the court to expedite issuing a hold departure order in cases prosecuted under it. A hold departure order stops the person from leaving the country, and the law tells the court to act on it quickly, reflecting the risk that an accused might otherwise flee.
What the law says
The court shall expedite the process of issuance of a hold departure order in cases prosecuted under this Act
RA 9262, Section 37 — Hold Departure Order. Read the full provision →
What Section 37 requires
The provision is short and pointed: the court shall expedite the process of issuance of a hold departure order in cases prosecuted under this Act. It does not invent the hold departure order from nothing; it instructs the court to move quickly on it in cases under the VAWC law. The operative word is expedite. The court is told to give the matter priority so that the order is not overtaken by events — chiefly, the person leaving before anything can be done. The direction reflects a legislative judgment that delay in these cases carries a particular cost.
What a hold departure order does
A hold departure order is a directive that prevents a named person from leaving the country while the case against them is pending. Its purpose in this setting is to keep the accused within the reach of the court, so that a prosecution is not defeated by the person going abroad and becoming difficult to bring back. It is a protective and procedural measure tied to the pendency of the case — not itself a penalty or a finding of anything, but a means of preserving the court's ability to see the case through to a conclusion.
It operates within the case
Because the order is issued by the court in a case prosecuted under the Act, it presupposes that a case is underway. Section 37 speeds up the court's action; it does not remove the court's role in deciding whether to issue the order on the facts before it. So the measure is available as part of the proceedings, and the section's contribution is to press the court to act without delay, recognising the flight risk these cases can carry. The order stands only while the case that supports it remains pending.
What this means, and next steps
For a complainant worried that the accused may leave, the practical step is to raise the concern within the case, so the court can act on the hold departure order the section tells it to expedite. Timing is the whole point — the order's value depends on being in place before any departure, not after it. This is something to take up promptly with the counsel handling the case rather than leaving to chance, since once a person has already gone the order can no longer do the work it was designed for.