Domestic Abuse

Proposed new domestic violence laws will take up to a year to come into effect to allow for training across the justice system, Justice Minister Naomi Long has said. Ms Long is planning to introduce legislation to make it an offence for a person to engage in a course of abusive behaviour (on two or

Certain domestic abuse offenders in England and Wales will have to take lie detector tests after their release from custody under new UK government plans. A three-year pilot will see mandatory polygraph examinations imposed on "high risk" offenders three months after release and every six months aft

A man in Donegal has become the first person to be convicted of coercive control in Ireland. The offence was established under the Domestic Violence Act 2018, which came into effect just over a year ago.

Domestic abuse legislation will be introduced at Stormont by April or May this year, Justice Minister Naomi Long has said. Department of Justice officials "are currently working with legislative counsel to finalise a Domestic Abuse Bill for introduction locally", she said.

Legislation to criminalise abusive behaviour in domestic and close family relationships will be brought forward in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The UK government had come under pressure to legislate in Northern Ireland before the restoration of Stormont, but Justice Minister Naomi Long said she no

An initiative designed to make victims of domestic violence feel safer in their own homes could be rolled out in Northern Ireland. Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey told a conference hosted by Belfast and Lisburn Women's Aid that she is considering plans to introduce the Sanctuary Scheme model fir

A victim of domestic violence who did not realise she would be named in a court report in her local newspaper has had her complaint dismissed by the Press Ombudsman. The woman gave evidence in court in the trial of a former partner who had admitted assaulting her, and her name and address was subseq

The criminal justice system in Ireland is failing victims of domestic abuse, with only a minority of women feeling safer or that justice has been done after engaging with it. A major new report released by Women's Aid yesterday outlines what the frontline organisation says are significant failings b

A bill introducing a new offence of coercive control in Northern Ireland which automatically fell after the prorogation of Parliament will now continue to be considered by MPs. The UK Government's Domestic Abuse Bill was one of a number of pieces of proposed legislation which automatically fell foll

There remains an opportunity for Northern Ireland to take forward long-awaited domestic abuse reforms after a Westminster setback by working to restore devolution, former justice minister Claire Sugden has told Irish Legal News. The UK Government announced earlier this summer that its Domestic Abuse

Northern Ireland lawyers Claire Edgar and Gráinne Murphy are in Norway this week for a major conference on domestic violence. The European Conference on Domestic Violence, which was previously held in Belfast in 2016, is meeting this week in Oslo.

A new report on domestic abuse in the Irish criminal justice system is set to be launched by Women's Aid Ireland next month. The Unheard and Uncounted: Women, Domestic Abuse and the Irish Criminal Justice System report will be launched on Thursday 26 September following a seminar at the charity's Du

Proposals to prevent domestic abusers from cross-examining their victims in the family courts have been put out to consultation by the Department of Justice. The consultation paper, published yesterday, sets out options for legislation including applying a statutory prohibition on cross-examination

Westminster will legislate to introduce a new offence of coercive control in Northern Ireland, former Justice Minister Claire Sugden has announced. In a statement this morning, Ms Sugden said she had been informed by Northern Ireland's Department of Justice that the UK Government's Domestic Abuse Bi

Further action must be taken to improve how cases of domestic violence and abuse are handled in Northern Ireland's criminal justice system, according to a key watchdog. In a new report, Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) warns that important reforms have been delayed as a result of t