Jade’s Law: The Implications on Parental Responsibility

Jade’s Law has been attracting media attention recently after the Conservative government announced it would amend the Victims and Prisoners Bill to allow children greater protection against dangerous parents.

What is Parental Responsibility?

Parental Responsibility is a term that is used to describe the legal rights and responsibilities a parent has over their child.

Background to Jade’s Law

Jade Ward, a devoted mother of four children, was brutally murdered by her estranged husband, Russell Marsh, who received a life sentence for her death in April 2022. After Mr Marsh had been sentenced, Jade’s parents, Karen Robinson and Paul Ward were contacted by Mr Marsh’s lawyer for updates on his four children as he still had parental responsibility despite murdering their mother.

The maternal grandparents of the children felt that they had no choice but to take action as the previous law still allowed for a parent who had murdered the other parent to have parental responsibility over the children. This meant that Mr Marsh would still have the right to be informed and make important decisions on his children’s education, travel arrangements and health. Jade’s parents felt that they had no choice but to seek justice and they launched ‘Jade’s Law Petition’ in 2022. The petition received over 130,000 signatures which resulted in a parliamentary debate and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC stated that the petition had exhibited ‘an injustice’ in the system.

The Effect on Parental Responsibility

The implementation of Jade’s Law at the end of this year will mean that parents’ parental responsibility will be automatically revoked if they are serving time for the murder or voluntary manslaughter of an individual with whom they shared parental responsibility. However , the automatic revocation of parental responsibility does not apply to parents who have murdered the other parent in circumstances where domestic abuse was involved in their relationship. Moreover, the individual who has had their parental rights removed will have the right to apply for the decision to be reviewed and the Judge must ensure that the decision is in the best interests of the child.

This is a huge development in the law as the current legal restrictions mean it is very difficult for parental responsibility to be terminated. Hopefully the implementation of ‘Jade’s Law’ will ensure that the children of a murdered parent are protected from further harm and trauma. The experience of going through the court system in criminal proceedings is painful enough but to now have the knowledge that they will no longer have another legal battle on their hands in the family courts will come as a great relief in such a painful time.

If you wish to receive further information or legal advice in relation to parental responsibility, please contact our Family Law Team on freephone 0800 011 6666.