Government of Jersey

Applications of Claire's Law since 2014 (FOI)

Produced by the Freedom of Information office
Authored by Government of Jersey and published on 10 November 2023.
Prepared internally, no external costs.

Request

How many Claire’s Law (Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme) applications have there been since it was introduced in 2014? Plese provide a breakdown by year.

How many of these applications have been granted? How many have been rejected?

Please advise if, hypothetically, the police would accept a case where there is clear evidence of abuse from a housemate (one where threshold would be met to disclose if they were in a relationship), where they reside together due to a house share situation but have not been intimate (such as not in a relationship, dating or having sexual intercourse)?

Response

Please refer to previous FOI request, the link to which can be found below, for details of domestic violence disclosures from 2014 to July of 2019. Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 therefore partly applies.

Sarah’s Law and Claire’s Law Disclosures (FOI)

Updated numbers for 2019 and each subsequent year up to the date of your request are shown below:

Year	Number of cases considered	Number Granted	Number rejected
2019	18	10	8
2020	22	20	2
2021	33	23	10
2022	28	23	5
2023*	29	21	8

*To 2 October 2023

It should be noted that the majority of domestic violence disclosures are as a result of proactive policing rather than in response to an enquiry by a member of the public.

A disclosure can be rejected where it is determined that it would be disproportionate and contrary to human rights, particularly Article 8: Right to a private life or if the recipient refuses to accept the information.

Disclosures are not confined to partners in a relationship. The States of Jersey Police would consider making a disclosure to a housemate where it is considered necessary and proportionate.

Article applied

Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.