Jade's Law and Parental Responsibility

Jade’s Law and Parental Responsibility

By Hannah OvertonPublished 2 October 2026Last reviewed 2 October 202613 mins read10 sections

Part of: How to apply for Parental Responsibility

Jade’s Law suspends a parent’s power to use parental responsibility once a court convicts them of killing the other parent. The provision sits in section 18 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024. Parliament has passed it. Even so, it is not yet switched on.

That gap matters more than anything else on this page. We checked the position on 1 October 2026, and section 18 still had no commencement date. So the automatic suspension families campaigned for does not yet happen at sentencing.

This page therefore does two jobs. First, it sets out what Jade’s Law will do, taken from the statute rather than from news coverage. Second, it sets out what you can ask a court for today, while the provision waits.

Our family law specialists know who reads a page like this. You may have lost a daughter, a sister or a mother. You may be raising her children now. Nothing here is written to take you back through what happened.

What is Jade’s Law?

Jade’s Law is the common name for section 18 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024. It inserts two new sections, 10A and 10B, into the Children Act 1989.

Section 10A places a duty on the Crown Court. Where a parent who holds parental responsibility is convicted of murdering the other parent, the court must make a prohibited steps order when it sentences them.

That order then has a very wide effect. The offender may take no step of any kind in meeting parental responsibility unless the High Court or the family court consents first.

Where the name comes from

The provision carries the name of Jade Ward. A petition started by a family friend asked Parliament to suspend parental responsibility automatically where one parent kills the other. It drew 130,179 signatures, and Parliament debated it on 7 November 2022.

The Government then announced in October 2023 that it would bring the change in by amending the Victims and Prisoners Bill. That is how section 18 reached the statute book.

Is Jade’s Law in force yet?

No, and this is the point most coverage gets wrong. Section 18 is not in force, and we verified that on 1 October 2026.

The legislation.gov.uk entry for the section still carries a single commencement note: “S. 18 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 81(2)”. The section is also flagged there as prospective, meaning it has never come into force.

Section 81(2) explains why. Parts 1, 2 and 4 of the Act come into force on whatever day the Secretary of State appoints by regulations. Section 18 sits in Part 1, so it needs a commencement regulation before it does anything at all.

Eleven sets of commencement regulations have been made since 2024. We read every one of them, and none commences section 18. Other parts of the Act have been switched on in stages, but this part has not.

Jade’s Law is therefore law on paper rather than law in practice. Until the regulations arrive, a sentencing judge cannot make an order under section 10A, and the older routes further down this page are the only ones that work.

Which convictions trigger it, and which do not

Jade’s Law reaches two convictions, and the second one is narrow. Murder of the other parent always triggers the duty, while manslaughter triggers it only in defined circumstances.

Section 10A(2) sets out those circumstances. Manslaughter counts where, but for loss of control under section 54 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, or diminished responsibility under section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957, the offender would have been liable to be convicted of murder.

Read that wording carefully, because it does real work. A manslaughter conviction reached on any other basis falls outside section 10A altogether.

Two further conditions apply. The child must have two parents, at least one of whom holds parental responsibility, and the offender must be a parent who holds it.

The three exceptions

Section 10A(5) stops the Crown Court making the order in three situations:

• A placement order is already in force, because section 29(3) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 then prohibits a prohibited steps order.
• An equivalent prohibited steps order already exists and already meets the requirements in section 10A(4).
• The conviction is for manslaughter, and the Crown Court considers that an order would not be in the interests of justice.

Notice that the third exception reaches manslaughter only. Where the conviction is for murder, the Crown Court has no discretion to withhold the order on that ground.

What the order does, and how long it lasts

Section 10A(4) fixes two things about the order Jade’s Law requires. It must cover every step a parent could take in meeting parental responsibility, and it must have effect until the High Court or the family court varies or discharges it.

Four further features matter in practice, and most people do not expect them:

• It survives a successful appeal. Section 10A(7) provides that the order does not cease to have effect if the offender is acquitted on appeal. A fresh review follows instead.
• It can cover a teenager. Normally section 9(7) of the Children Act 1989 stops a court making a section 8 order for a child of 16 or over unless the circumstances are exceptional. Section 18 switches that restriction off here.
• It survives a later care order. Making a care order normally discharges a section 8 order. Section 18 carves this order out, and a local authority holding a care order may then act only on steps the order leaves open.
• It is not part of the sentence. Section 18 amends the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 so that an order under section 10A is not a “sentence” for that Act’s purposes.

One more feature belongs here, because it surprises people who expect a welfare hearing. The Crown Court runs no welfare inquiry before making the order, since section 10A(6) disapplies sections 1, 7 and 11 of the Children Act 1989 where the Crown Court proceeds. The welfare analysis comes afterwards, in the family court.

Jade’s Law suspends parental responsibility rather than removing it

This distinction decides what you can realistically expect. Jade’s Law leaves parental responsibility in place and takes away the power to use it, so the offender remains a parent in law.

Section 2 of the Children Act 1989 shows why that still protects a child. More than one person may hold parental responsibility at the same time, and nobody loses it merely because another person gains it. Crucially, section 2(8) already provides that holding parental responsibility does not entitle anyone to act incompatibly with a court order.

So the order bites through section 2(8). Schooling, medical treatment, a passport, a trip abroad, a change of surname: each one needs the court’s consent first.

Removing parental responsibility is a different thing, and the existing route is narrow. Under section 4(2A), a father who acquired parental responsibility under section 4 keeps it unless the court orders otherwise, and somebody has to make that application.

That route does not reach a father who was married to the mother when the child was born, because his parental responsibility comes from section 2(1) instead. That gap is much of the reason Jade’s Law was needed. For the wider picture on how parental responsibility is gained, read our guide on how to apply for parental responsibility, or our guide to same-sex parents’ rights where the route differs again.

Does Jade’s Law apply to your situation?

Work through these three questions in order. Each answer comes from the statute, and together they tell you whether section 10A would reach your family once it starts.

The 14-day review, and applying to the family court

Section 10B builds a review into the process, and it runs automatically. The relevant local authority must apply to the court to review the order, so no bereaved family has to start that application itself.

The deadline is tight. That application must be made as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day after the order was made.

A second review follows an acquittal on appeal. Once the first application has been disposed of, and the parent is then acquitted, the relevant local authority must apply again within the same 14-day window, counted from the day after the verdict.

Which authority is the relevant one? Section 10B(7) answers that. It is the authority for the area where the child ordinarily lives, or failing that the area where the child is present.

How an affected person gets the order changed

Variation and discharge sit with the High Court or the family court, never with the Crown Court. Section 10A(9) is explicit that the Crown Court has no jurisdiction over enforcement.

Anyone affected therefore applies to the family court. Because section 10A(6) switches off the welfare provisions only where the Crown Court proceeds, the family court applies the usual welfare principle when it reviews the order.

A grandparent or other carer raising the children should take advice before that review hearing rather than after it. The review is the first real opportunity to tell the court what the children need.

What you can ask a court for now

A good deal, as it happens. Every order that existed before Jade’s Law still works, and some of them reach further than section 10A does.

• A prohibited steps order on application. The family court can make the same kind of order today, on an application instead of automatically. Our guide to the prohibited steps order covers who may apply and how.
• A specific issue order, where one decision needs settling rather than everything at once. See our guide to the specific issue order.
• A child arrangements order, naming the person the children live with. That order also gives a carer parental responsibility, which section 10A does not.
• Termination of parental responsibility under section 4(2A), where the father acquired it under section 4 rather than by marriage.
• An order barring further applications, under section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989.

Section 91(14) deserves a closer look. On disposing of an application, the court may order that no application of a specified kind may be made about the child by a named person without leave. That can stop a stream of applications arriving from prison.

Where an order is already in place and somebody breaches it, our guide to enforcing a child arrangements order sets out the steps. And where abuse ran through the relationship beforehand, our guide to hidden forms of abuse covers coercive control and the orders that address it.

What we see in practice

Grandparents often reach us within weeks of the funeral, already caring for their grandchildren full time. In one matter, the children had moved in with their grandmother immediately and the criminal case had concluded.

Where the children lived was never the problem. Consent was. The school wanted a signature for a residential trip, a GP wanted agreement to a referral, and the grandmother held no parental responsibility at all. Letters objecting to both were still arriving from prison.

We applied for a child arrangements order naming her as the person the children live with, which gave her parental responsibility, and for a prohibited steps order alongside it. We also asked the court to restrict further applications. Those orders settled the consent question, and the school stopped asking.

Had section 10A been in force, the Crown Court would have made the prohibited steps order at sentencing, and a local authority review would have followed within 14 days. Even then, the family would still have needed the child arrangements order, because Jade’s Law gives a carer no parental responsibility of their own. That limit is worth understanding before anyone relies on it.

Common questions about Jade’s Law

Does Jade’s Law apply across the United Kingdom?

No. Section 18 extends to England and Wales only, so Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements.

Does it take parental responsibility away permanently?

No, and that is a common misreading. It suspends the exercise of parental responsibility, and the order lasts until the High Court or the family court varies or discharges it.

Does it give grandparents or other carers parental responsibility?

No. Section 10A restricts what the offender may do, yet it gives nobody else anything. A carer who needs parental responsibility still applies for a child arrangements order or similar.

What happens if the conviction is overturned?

The order continues, because section 10A(7) says so expressly. The relevant local authority must then apply for a second review within 14 days of the acquittal.

Will the rules widen beyond murder and manslaughter?

Parliament has already legislated to extend the same machinery. The Victims and Courts Act 2026 inserts further duties on the Crown Court for certain serious sexual offences, and for a child conceived as a result of rape. Those provisions are not in force either.

Arrange a consultation with our family law specialists today

The first conversation costs you nothing. Bring the children’s ages, who they live with now, and anything the court has already ordered. We will tell you whether Jade’s Law would reach your family once it starts, which order fits in the meantime, and what it will take to get it.

Call us on 0330 094 5880 to talk it through, or let us call you back. We can meet at our offices, by telephone, or by video call, whichever is easiest while you are holding a household together.