A brother of murder victim Valerie French has welcomed steps by the Minister for Justice to advance a new law to remove automatic child guardianship rights from those convicted of killing their partner or the other parent of their child.
Jim O’Callaghan said on Tuesday he has secured Cabinet approval to start pre-legislative scrutiny and then to commence drafting legislation that will, in certain situations, remove guardianship rights from such individuals.
David French, whose sister Valerie, a 41-year-old mother of three young sons, was killed in June 2019 by her husband, James Kilroy, at their home near Westport in Co Mayo, is among those who have campaigned for such legislation, which has become known as Valerie’s Law.
Mr French said he particularly welcomed the Minister’s statement that issues around the guardianship of children in a scenario where one parent or guardian kills the other “should not be regarded as a matter of private law between the families concerned but, instead, should be regarded as a child protection and welfare issue arising in the public law area”.
“This is about protecting children from dangerous people,” Mr French said, adding that he looked forward to examining the content of the draft legislation.
Mr O’Callaghan said in a statement the proposed legislation delivers on the Government’s commitment to “examine proposals to remove guardianship rights from those convicted of killing their partners or a parent of their child”.
It is part of continuing work “to implement appropriate recommendations” from the independent Study on Familicide and Domestic and Family Violence Death Reviews, commissioned by the Department of Justice and published in 2023, he said.
“Our laws must reflect the gravity of these offences. This is above all about the welfare and protection of children,” he said.
“This proposed legislation upholds a fundamental principle – those convicted of the most serious crimes should not retain automatic legal authority over the children they have left behind.”
This General Scheme of the Guardianship of Infants (Amendment) Bill 2025, which will now be referred to the relevant oint Oireachtas committee for pre-legislative scrutiny, is intended to protect vulnerable children from further trauma, to provide clarity for surviving family members, and to prevent perpetrators from maintaining control over these children’s lives, he said.
The proposed legislation, which will not be retrospective, allows for a relevant application to court within six months of the conviction of a parent/ guardian of a child for murder or manslaughter of another parent or guardian of the child. Following pre-legislative scrutiny, drafting of the Bill will commence.
