Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) Flashcards
Q: What is the DVDS often referred to as?
Clare’s Law- following the tragic case of Clare Wood, who was murdered by her former partner in 2009. Her partner had three previous convictions under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
Q: What is the DVDS?
Allows people to find out if their partner’s have a history of violence.
Scheme was introduced to set out procedures that could be used by the police in relation to disclosure of info about previous violent, abusive offending by a potentially violent individual to their partner. This may help to protect them from future violent and abusive offending.
Q: What is the scheme based on? Where do police get their disclosure powers from?
The scheme did not introduce any new legislation but is based on the police’s common law power to disclose info where it is necessary to prevent crime.
Q: What are the 2 elements to the scheme?
The scheme has 2 elements:
1: The right to ask
- An individual or relevant third party (eg: family member) can ask the police to check whether a current or ex-partner has a violent or abusive past. This is the right to ask.
- If records show that an individual may be at risk of DA from a partner or ex-partner, the police will consider disclosing the info.
2: The right to know
- The right to know enables the police to make a disclosure on their own initiative, if they receive info about the violent or abusive behaviour of a person that may impact on the safety of that persons’ current or ex-partner.
- This could be info arising from a criminal investigation, through statutory or third sector agency involvement or from another source of police intelligence.
Q: When can a disclosure be made lawfully?
A disclosure can be made lawfully by the police under the scheme if the disclosure is based on the police’s common law powers to disclose info where it is necessary to prevent crime and if the disclosure also complies with established case law, as well as data protection and human rights legislation.
It must be reasonable and proportionate for the police to make the disclosure, based on a credible risk of violence or harm.
