Domestic violence legislation to be enacted ‘as soon as possible’

Legislation to consolidate and reform the law on domestic violence will be enacted as soon as possible following Oireachtas approval, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said.

Ms Fitzgerald spoke as the Domestic Violence Bill 2017 reached the second stage in the Dáil today.

Introducing the debate, she said: “Domestic violence is a pernicious evil that has devastating physical, emotional and financial consequences for victims as well as society as a whole. It is not acceptable that anyone in Ireland is subjected to abuse, fear and intimidation.

“The purpose of this Bill, which has been a key priority for me, is to consolidate and reform the law on domestic violence to provide better protection for victims.

“The Bill also includes provisions to enable Ireland to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, more commonly known as the Istanbul Convention. These include a new provision for emergency barring orders and a new offence of forced marriage.”

Among the provisions of the bill are those expanding safety orders, introduced in the Domestic Violence Act 1996, to allow a court to impose a prohibition on electronic communication where necessary

Ms Fitzgerald said she will bring forward an amendment at committee stage to ensure that persons in intimate and committed relationships, but who are not cohabiting, can also avail of safety orders.

The six-month minimum cohabitation requirement for people in cohabiting relationships to apply for a statutory barring order will be scrapped and these will also be extended to electronic communications.

Meanwhile, a new emergency barring order will allow a person in a dangerous situation to get a temporary barring order even if they have no rights to the property.

Ms Fitzgerald said: “This is an important new provision which must be enacted to enable Ireland to ratify the Istanbul Convention.”

She concluded: “I believe that this legislation will help to improve the protection of the law for victims of domestic violence, as it puts the needs of victims first and foremost.

“This Bill will help in tackling the horror of domestic violence and I intend that it will be enacted as early as possible.”