The Chair of the Bar Council has welcomed new proposals in the Victims and Courts Bill that will automatically restrict parental responsibility for offenders who have been sentenced for sex offences against their own child as “a strong protective measure”.
Commenting, Barbara Mills KC, Chair of the Bar Council and a specialist family law practitioner, said:
“Parental responsibility should not be regarded as an inalienable right which is retained regardless of parental behaviour and actions. Restricting parental responsibility for perpetrators of child sex offences is a strong protective measure for those left behind after acts of violence and abuse within a family.
“The new proposal follows the implementation of Jade’s Law which restricts parental rights in cases of domestic abuse murder. Findings of abuse are not the end of the story but the beginning of a new chapter for the children – a chapter where their caregivers have to be assisted to grapple with building new foundations which cannot be interfered with by the perpetrator of abuse.
“Together these measures demonstrate the critical importance of putting legislation in place to support the family courts and provide it with the tools it needs to deal effectively with cases of domestic abuse, with an eye to the medium and long term.
“The family courts are well placed to prevent future violence and domestic abuse. The government’s laudable aim of halving violence against women and girls will only be realised if the issue is approached as a family law matter, as much as it is a criminal one.”
The measures have been announced as part of wide-ranging legislation that will also give new powers to judges to punish offenders who refuse to attend sentencing hearings, new powers for the Victims’ Commissioner in relation to the Victims’ Code, and increased flexibility for the Director of Public Prosecutions in appointing Crown Prosectors. The Bar Council will be scrutinising the draft bill before commenting on the details of the proposals.