A new domestic violence disclosure scheme could expose women and girls to an “unacceptable” risk of further abuse, according to an internal Department of Justice analysis.
Officials found that abusers would have to be “informed in advance” that information about them was being shared under their constitutional right to privacy and fair procedures, a legal obligation that could not be “sidestepped”.
This prompted fears that offering such an alert to perpetrators could “trigger” abuse and violence.
The documents, which were released under the Freedom of Information Act, were compiled by officials in the department in 2023 when the proposal for Jennie’s Law was first being considered.
READ MORE
The campaign for Jennie’s Law is named after Jennifer Poole, a 24-year-old mother of two who was murdered by her former partner Gavin Murphy in 2021.
Ms Poole did not know that Murphy had a history of abusive behaviour, including a conviction for assaulting a former partner.
Her family, who have led a campaign for a domestic violence register in her honour, maintain that had she known about Murphy’s history she might still be alive.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has committed to setting up such a domestic violence register, which will be named Jennie’s Law.
The proposal was first considered by officials following a number of meetings between previous ministers for justice Simon Harris and Helen McEntee and Jason Poole, Ms Poole’s brother.
In February 2023, Mr Harris met Mr Poole and committed to progressing plans for a domestic violence disclosure scheme.
Officials advised Ms McEntee, who met Mr Poole during her tenure as minister for justice, to say she had had “the benefit of analysis done by officials in my department and other colleagues, including An Garda Síochána” on the proposal to bring forward Jennie’s Law.
A briefing note prepared for Ms McEntee ahead of a meeting with Mr Poole in July 2023 raised “significant legal and constitutional issues” with plans to disclose information about offenders to the public. It warned that offenders had a constitutional right to privacy.
“It follows that an ex-offender would need to be informed in advance about any proposal to disclose information about him or her under a domestic violence disclosure scheme. Failure to do so would infringe his or her legal and constitutional rights,” the briefing note said.
“Legally, the obligation to inform an ex-offender about a proposed disclosure cannot be sidestepped. However, notice of an intention to disclose information could trigger or increase violence in abusive relationships. As such, legislating for a domestic violence disclosure scheme could create an unacceptable risk to the women and girls the scheme intends to protect.”
Another briefing note prepared for Ms McEntee ahead of a meeting with Mr Poole in December 2023 said that her department “cannot develop proposals for legislation that is unconstitutional and potentially dangerous”.
Instead of a public disclosure scheme, the 2025 programme for government committed to giving An Garda Síochána the power to inform vulnerable people of a partner’s history of domestic violence. But Mr O’Callaghan has since gone further and said he was still committed to setting up a public domestic violence register.
The Department of Justice did not comment.
