The Illinois Domestic Violence Act (IDVA), which became effective March 1, 1982, brings legislative recognition to the nature and seriousness of domestic violence by providing a wide range of civil and criminal remedies, law enforcement assistance, and institutional reforms to assist victims of domestic violence and ultimately to alter the cycle of violence in Illinois families. The unique feature of IDVA is the emphasis it gives to the role of the criminal justice system in providing protection to victims as well as in pressing abusive family members to change violent behavior. The new legal concept in IDVA is an order of protection, a hybrid civil-criminal legal remedy. The order of protection resembles a civil injunction or restraining order, in that it may be obtained in civil court in conjunction with an action for marriage dissolution, child custody, and legal separation or annulment, or it may be obtained in civil court in an independent action. In explaining how prosecutors should apply the IDVA, the manual first provides introductory information on domestic violence; this includes discussions of why domestic violence is a criminal justice problem, the parties in domestic violence cases, and when victims of domestic violence want to discontinue prosecution. Another chapter details the provisions of the IDVA and how the prosecutor can implement various provisions. Attachments include a suggested prosecutor's policy for implementation of the IDVA, a domestic violence order of protection, an ex parte order of protection, an order to modify an order of protection, a sample complaint for violation of an order of protection, a sample petition for order of protection, a victim rights sheet, and a list of other materials available on the IDVA