Domestic Violence

The legal aid financial eligibility test has been waived in Northern Ireland for victims of domestic abuse who need to respond to an application by their abuser. Justice minister Naomi Long yesterday commenced section 28 of the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021, which

Emma Stratton, solicitor at Francis Hanna & Co Solicitors in Belfast, welcomes a recent judgment in England and Wales. The High Court in England and Wales has for the first time used the term ‘gaslighting’ in a judgment to describe coercive behaviours.

Northern Ireland's new stand-alone offence of domestic abuse has come into force. The new offence under the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021, which came into force yesterday, criminalises patterns of non-physical abusive behaviour as well as physical abuse.

New measures targeted directly at keeping women and girls safer have been added to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, the UK government has announced. Under the changes, victims of domestic abuse will be allowed more time to report incidents of common assault or battery against them. Cur

The Courts Service and the Legal Aid Board will continue to prioritise domestic abuse cases over the Christmas season, the government has said. Justice minister Helen McEntee yesterday relaunched the "Still Here" national awareness campaign on domestic abuse, which was first developed last April in

GPs in Northern Ireland are helping to identify and refer victims of domestic and sexual abuse to specialist support under a new pilot scheme. The "identification and referral to improve safety" (IRIS) programme is currently being piloted in 16 practices in East Belfast and the Newry and Mourne area

Reports of domestic abuse have doubled in the past five years, the Garda’s annual policing report shows. There were 7,600 charges brought last year over domestic abuse, an increase of 24 per cent on the 2019 figure.

A new public consultation is seeking views on how the criminal justice system should treat cases of non-fatal strangulation. Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) recommended in June 2019 that the Department of Justice should review how potential inadequacies in current legislation re

Thousands of 999 calls about domestic violence were ignored by gardaí between 2019 and 2020, an ongoing internal investigation has found. Concerns have been raised by domestic abuse charities about the scale of the issue, which first came to light in late 2020.

Northern Ireland's ministers for justice, health, communities, education and finance have published an action plan for year six of the seven-year domestic and sexual abuse strategy as well as a progress report for 2020/21. Year six of the strategy will include the commencement of the Domestic Abuse

Family lawyers are experiencing a substantial increase in enquiries involving allegations of domestic violence and coercive control, comparable to the increase during the first Covid-19 lockdown, Irish Legal News has learned. Domestic violence charity Safe Ireland, which represents 39 front-line org

An online summit bringing together justice agencies, politicians and judges to discuss domestic abuse has placed emphasis on the need for early intervention and rehabilitation. The seminar, hosted by the Probation Board for Northern Ireland, heard from speakers including Justice Minister Naomi Long

A man convicted of coercive control and other offences following the first trial for offences under the Domestic Violence Act 2018 has been jailed for ten-and-a-half years. During a 20-month relationship, Daniel Kane, 52, repeatedly attacked his partner, including burning her foot, cutting her with

Landmark legislation creating a specific offence of domestic abuse will be brought into effect by the end of the year after clearing its final stage in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Bill was originally expected to be signed into law by the end of 2020, but w

Victims of domestic abuse in Northern Ireland will be able to discreetly seek help through pharmacies under a new scheme launched by the UK government. The scheme will initially be available in Boots pharmacies, as well as a number of other independent pharmacies. Participating pharmacies will have