The Northern Ireland Executive has backed plans to pardon gay and bisexual men convicted of abolished sexual offences.

The Executive will ask MLAs to pass a legislative consent motion to extend provisions of the UK government’s Policing and Crime Bill to Northern Ireland, allowing for those convicted of abolished homosexual offences to be pardoned.

Justice Minister Claire Sugden said: “Pardon arrangements should be brought to Northern Ireland as soon as possible to ensure that there is equal treatment for gay and bisexual men here as for their counterparts in England and Wales.

“This is an opportunity for the criminal justice system to try and right the wrongs of the past and one which will allow for much earlier resolve than that presented by way of an Assembly Bill.”

If the motion is passed, it is expected that Northern Ireland will have the same pardon arrangements as England and Wales.

The provisions will allow for pardons, both posthumously and for live cases, in respect of convictions for abolished homosexual offences involving consensual activity with persons over the age of consent.