THE JUSTICE MINISTER is set to bring a bill to cabinet that will allow those convicted of domestic violence against a current or former partner to be publicly named on a register.
“Jennie’s Law” is named after Jennifer Poole. Jennifer was 24 when she was murdered by her ex-partner, 30-year-old Gavin Murphy, in 2021.
Murphy had a previous conviction for assaulting a former partner and had a history of abusive behaviour. Jennifer was not aware of this.
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan will seek approval at cabinet tomorrow to publish the text of Jennie’s Law and commence the bill’s passage through the Oireachtas.
“If a person is convicted of a serious criminal offence before the courts, that is a public conviction and the public are entitled to know about that conviction,” O’Callaghan said.
“This public register will help those who are in a relationship or considering a relationship with a person to ascertain whether they have a history of serious domestic violence convictions.
“I want to commend Jason Poole, Jennifer’s brother, who has tirelessly campaigned for such a register.”
The public register will be hosted on the website of the Courts Service, and survivors will be required to provide consent before the convicted person can be named on the register.
The information will be presented in a way that is linked to domestic violence services.
Under the legislation, the trial judge will have discretion to issue a judgment in an appropriate case, which will contain details of conviction and sentence, as well as any other information relevant to the offence that the judge deems appropriate.
Judgments will be published under the specific heading of “Domestic Violence Register Judgments”.
The justice minister said the bill is expected to be published in the coming days, and initiated in the Houses of the Oireachtas shortly after.
Jason Poole told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that he and his family began talking about having a law such as this in Ireland after Jennifer was killed.
“We had got a list of failures that we felt could have saved Jennifer’s life if those things hadn’t been in place, one being a domestic violence register,” he said.
“After the trial had finished in 2022 is when we really started to push this campaign to make sure that we got a domestic violence register and that other families didn’t have to go through what we are going through.”
Poole said the time it has taken to bring the law to cabinet has been “very frustrating”.
“We went through three justice ministers and two governments. We had been very close before, and obviously there was a general election, but it wasn’t the same sort of register that we were seeing now with the support of Jim O’Callaghan.
“The frustration and the anger of not getting there has really taken its toll as a family. But we know we’re at the final hurdle now, and the next couple of weeks is really, really crucial.”
Poole said that while it’s “too late” for his sister, this piece of legislation will be her legacy.
“[This is] for the failures of the system that Jennifer had to endure, but also for the victims who are listening to this, because they’re the people who are going to be protected.”