Domestic Abuse Disclosure Schemes: Problems with Policy, Regulation and Legality

This book examines Domestic Abuse Disclosure Schemes, in the form of 'Clare's Law' policies, that have spread from England and Wales to an increasing proportion of the common law world: Scotland and Northern Ireland, New Zealand, parts of Australia, some provinces in Canada, and more. These policies are predicated on police forces warning the partners of abusers about domestic violence perpetrated in the past of those abusive partners. This book explores why the evidence that these Schemes actually prevent serious harm is overall patchy, and currently unconvincing.

The author makes an argument for the evaluation and reappraisal of a piece of public protection policy which might currently be serving as sticking plaster on the shortcomings of wider public policy aimed at preventing violence against women. The book draws on the emerging body of research on Domestic Abuse Disclosure Schemes, and contributes original insights and analysis of its own.

Jamie Grace is Senior Lecturer in Law and Fellow of the Sheffield Institute for Policy Studies at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, based in the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice. In 2020 Jamie was a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London.