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People at risk of domestic violence have the right to get information about potentially harmful intimate partners.
Family violence is a crime – Call 911 if you or someone you know is in immediate danger.
Call the Family Violence Info Line at 310-1818 to get help anonymously in more than 170 languages, or find family violence and domestic violence supports.
The Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence (Clare’s Law) Act gives people who feel at risk of domestic violence a way to get information about their partners so they can make informed choices about their safety. Alberta’s version of Clare’s Law is named after a young woman killed by an ex-boyfriend with a history of violence against women.
People at risk can find out if their partner has a history of:
Person at risk – the person determined to be at risk of domestic violence.
Person of disclosure – the person you want to get information about.
Disclosure – when the police provide a person at risk with information about potential risk of domestic violence.
For more information, see Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence (Clare’s Law) Act protocol.
You can receive information from the police in 2 ways:
Police can proactively provide you with relevant information if it is determined you are at risk of domestic violence. You do not need to make a Clare’s Law application for this type of disclosure.
The person at risk may not want to talk to the police. That is their choice.
For police to start the process, they must:
You can apply to find out if your current or former intimate partner has a history of domestic violence.
The person you want information on:
The person at risk must agree to meet with police in person to receive information.
When making an application, you will be asked to provide information about yourself and the person of disclosure in the application. This includes:
If you do not know the answers to any questions about the person of disclosure in the application, please do not place yourself at risk by attempting to find them.
During the application process, the police will need to check law enforcement databases on the:
Applications must be complete for the application to be eligible.
The police only provide information to a person at risk so that person can make an informed decision about their safety. It cannot be shared with anyone else.
There are rules about how information disclosure is made:
Disclosure cannot be:
You can apply for information if you:
People who feel at risk can apply to find out if their partner has a history of:
A person applying to get information on behalf of a person at risk is called a third-party application.
If you make a third-party application:
You can apply for another person if one of these things is true:
If you are a third-party applicant, the person who you feel is at risk will be contacted to make sure they want to go ahead. Only the person you feel is at risk, or other legally authorized persons, will receive information.
You cannot apply to get information if you:
The personal information of the applicant, person of disclosure and any applicable third parties collected through the ‘Clare’s Law’ application will be checked against law enforcement databases and used for the purpose of:
If you choose to proceed, the personal information you provide will then be:
This personal information collection is:
If you have any questions about this collection and use of personal information, email [email protected] or call 780-427-3460 or toll free 310-0000.
The application for information is the first step. Applicants and persons at risk will be asked many times if they need support for domestic violence.
It will take about 4 weeks to get disclosure information.
The person of disclosure will not be told there was an application for information about them.
People can trust that their personal information will be safeguarded and only relevant details will be disclosed to those who are authorized to receive it.
If a crime is reported – or if an applicant or person of disclosure or third party applicant (if applicable) has warrants – the police have a duty to respond and conduct an investigation in line with normal operating procedures.
If a crime is reported, it may not be possible to protect the identity of the person at risk.
Regardless of any circumstances that may arise in the process, the Clare’s Law program will continue to be focused on providing information to persons at risk so they can protect themselves:
The Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence (Clare’s Law) Act is enabled under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act. Privacy legislation in Alberta governs the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.
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