Saskatchewan Interpersonal Violence Disclosure Protocol (Clare’s Law) Act
Date: July 7, 2020
Classification: Unclassified
Fully releasable (ATIP)? Yes
Branch / Agency: RCMP
Issue:
The Interpersonal Violence Disclosure Protocol (Clare’s Law) Act came into force in Saskatchewan on June 29, 2020.
Proposed Response:
- The RCMP has not refused to participate in or implement Clare’s Law, and has been involved with the planning for Clare’s Law from the beginning. The RCMP has been, and continues to be, supportive of this initiative.
- The RCMP is continuing to look into the matter, and considering how best it can support Clare’s Law’s objectives within its obligations under federal legislation, including the Privacy Act.
- Legislation similar to Clare’s Law is pending in other provinces where the RCMP is the contract provincial police force. The RCMP must consider a nationwide approach to harmonize various provincial Clare’s Law frameworks within the overarching federal privacy regime.
- The RCMP maintains its commitment to keeping families and communities safe and will continue to work in a cooperative manner with partner agencies and government departments to seek solutions to the serious problem of domestic violence.
- The RCMP remains committed to helping any individual with concerns about domestic violence through processes that have always existed for the RCMP.
Background:
Clare’s Law was an initiative in England and Wales that was created in response to Clare Wood being murdered by her boyfriend in 2009. Ms. Wood was killed by an accused who had a record of violence against women. Her family believes that she would still be alive if she knew the full extent of the accused’s previous behaviour.
Saskatchewan’s The Interpersonal Violence Disclosure Protocol (Clare’s Law) Act [“Clare’s Law”] and its regulations came into force on June 29, 2020. Clare’s Law permits an applicant, who is generally the partner at risk of being a victim of domestic violence [“PaR”] but also includes the parent or guardian of or an individual with a close personal connection to a PaR, to go to police and request a risk assessment of the PaR’s domestic partner committing domestic violence. The police would collect information from various police databases, both criminal record information and criminal history information, and forward the anonymized information to a multi-sector review committee. This committee would review the information, including police interactions, generate a recommendation regarding risk assessment (low, medium or high), and relay a recommendation to the police.
Early in the discussions and planning for the implementation of Clare’s Law, the RCMP identified to the Saskatchewan government and municipal police services, that there may be some challenges that the RCMP will need to overcome during the onboarding phase of the law due to the fact that the RCMP, unlike independent municipal police departments in Saskatchewan, is subject to federal legislation, including privacy legislation.
From the outset, the RCMP identified federal Privacy Act issues, which could limit the RCMP’s ability to participate in the Clare’s Law protocol, and communicated these concerns to provincial partners. The RCMP in Saskatchewan established interim measures to support the objectives of Clare’s Law in Saskatchewan, including the development of divisional policy providing guidance on the handling of Clare’s Law requests. The policy outlines procedures for both first-party and third-party requests. A statement is taken in all cases. If the statement discloses a criminal offence, the matter is dealt with via a criminal investigation. Persons who are identified by the RCMP as being at risk will be provided access to Victim Services, relevant information, and other resources to enhance their safety. Information is also provided on how to obtain publicly available information regarding criminal charges from the court.
The RCMP is continuing to look into the matter, and considering how best it can support Clare's Law objectives within its obligations under the federal Privacy Act.
Contacts:
Prepared by: C/Supt. Alfredo Bangloy, Officer in Charge, Provincial Criminal Operations, “F” Division RCMP – 306-501-3876.
Konrad Roberts, Strategic Policy, Contract and Indigenous Policing, RCMP – 343-542-2628
Approved by: Brian Brennan, Deputy Commissioner, Contract and Indigenous Policing, RCMP – 613-843-4632
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