Claire’s Law

What is Claire’s Law?

Claire’s Law (also known as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme – DVDS) is a police policy, giving people the right to know whether their ex- or current partner has a previous history of violence or abuse.

The scheme is named after Claire Wood, a 36-year-old woman who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. They began a six-month relationship, which Claire ended after it turned controlling and coercive. However, her ex-partner refused to move on and subjected Claire to continuous abusive behaviours, such as harassment, damage to her property, threats of violence and attempted assaults.

After her death in 2009, an inquest revealed that Claire’s ex-partner had a record of violent behaviour, which she was not informed of due to a loophole in the Data Protection Act.

Michael Brown (Claire’s father) campaigned for the ‘right to know’, to protect others like Claire. He managed to get Claire’s Law passed in England and Wales in 2014. It was then rolled out in Scotland in 2016, and Northern Ireland in 2018.  Since then, the scheme has been adopted in New South Wales, Australia and Canada.

What is an individual’s (A) rights under this scheme?

Under the scheme, individuals (A) are able to make an application to the police, requesting information about their ex- or current partner, if they are worried that they might pose a risk to them in the future.

Individuals are also able to request information from the police about the ex- or current partner of a close friend, neighbour or family members, because they are concerned that A might be at risk of domestic abuse in the future.

This is called the ‘right to ask’. You have the right to ask the police, as long as you are over the age of 16.

Under the scheme, individuals have the ‘right to know’. This means that if police checks show A’s ex- or current partner has a record of violent or abusive behaviours, and the police believe you are at risk, they may decide to proactively share that information with A.

When making the decision to disclose this information, they take into account all forms of domestic violence. Domestic violence is not limited to physical or sexual abuse, and can include emotional abuse, economic abuse and online digital abuse. 

What information is disclosed about the potential suspect (B)?

Any disclosures made by the police, have to be considered necessary, reasonable and proportionate.

The police will take the following factors when considering disclosure:

• Whether B has any convictions for an offence relating to domestic abuse e.g. sexual assault, controlling or coercive behaviour);
• Whether B is a serial perpetrator of domestic abuse;
• Whether the police hold information about previous violent offending, including:
  • Cases that have been concluded with ‘no further action’;
  • Cases that concern violent behaviours that are unrelated to domestic abuse;
  • Previous concerning behaviours towards previous partners (e.g. pattern of behaviours that show stalking, harassment, or controlling and coercion).
• Whether the police believe B has demonstrated concerning behaviours towards A.

What can you do if information is disclosed about you under Claire’s Law?

If you are arrested for offences relating to domestic abuse, or any other offences, you can apply to remove this off the Police National Computer (PNC). The PNC is used by the police across the UK, and other organisations such as the DBS and social services. The PNC records details of all arrests, warnings, cautions and convictions.

Under current laws, it is possible to remove non-conviction information (i.e. arrests, cautions) off the PNC. However, it is not possible to remove convictions off the PNC.

Whether an application is successful lies at the discretion of the Chief Officer of the relevant police force. Every application is determined on a case-by-case basis.

How can Olliers help?

At Olliers, we have a specialist team dealing with applications to delete information from the PNC. Our lawyers have extensive experience of drafting and submitting representations in support of such applications. The team at Olliers are here to listen, empathise, understand and assist with your record deletion case.

Contact our specialist record removal team to discuss how Olliers can help you successfully make an application for record deletion by telephone on 0161 8341515, by completing the form below or by email to dbs@olliers.com.