People who murder their partner will lose parental rights: Justice Secretary on “Jade’s Law”

A parent who has been found guilty of murdering the other parent will have their parental rights taken away, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has announced in a speech at the Conservative party conference yesterday (3 October).

Outlining plans to enact “Jade’s Law”, Chalk said: "I am clear that if a father murders the mother of his children, he should expect to lose his parental rights. That’s why today I can announce that we will legislate to suspend those rights from those who murder their partners.”

The Ministry of Justice announced that the rule will apply to anyone convicted of the murder or voluntary manslaughter of a person with whom they share parental responsibility and would then be “reviewed swiftly by a judge to ensure it is in the best interests of the child”.

However, an automatic exemption would be put in place in cases where a domestic abuse victim kills their abuser.

The measures are named after Jade Ward who was murdered by her husband and whose children and their grandparents are now subject to “attempts to exert control by the perpetrator from behind bars”, the conference was told.

Under Jade’s Law, killers will be prevented from having any say over key elements of their life including whether they can access therapeutic support, go on holiday or change schools, said the MoJ.

The new rules are set to be introduced as part of the Victims and Prisoners Bill.

The Government also announced that it has extended the use of whole life orders for the most dangerous offenders, so that in more cases “life really does mean life."

Further, the Government is giving judges the power to compel offenders to attend their sentencing hearing.

On this, Chalk said: “Those who’ve robbed innocence, betrayed trust and shattered lives should be in court to face up to the damage they have done. They should be there to hear society’s condemnation ringing in their ears."

Lottie Winson