Clare's Law, often known officially as a Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme or similar, designates several ways for police officers to disclose a person's history of abusive behaviour to those who may be at risk from such behaviour. It is intended to reduce intimate partner violence. Clare's Law is named after Clare Wood, a woman murdered in England by a former domestic partner who police knew to be dangerous.
Clare's Law has two main elements: a 'right to ask', which allows members of the public, including a domestic partner, to request information from the police about a potential abuser; and a 'right to know', which, in certain circumstances, permits police to disclose such information to the public on their own initiative.
First implemented in England and Wales in 2014, the policy structure has since been adopted or proposed in various forms elsewhere in the United Kingdom as well as in Australia and Canada. Despite its name, Clare's Law need not—and often does not—take the form of a statute. Instead, it may be implemented as a policy document or guidance issued by a government authority to police departments.[a]
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