NI election issues guide: Law and order

13 April 2016

Northern Ireland goes to the polls on 5 May to elect a new assembly. Browse the parties' key law and order priorities below:

Continue to develop innovative approaches to removing interface barriers
Use the most effective criminal justice approaches to divert, rehabilitate and reintegrate people who have offended, in order to make communities safer
Pursue executive-wide commitment to tackling all paramilitary and organised crime groups
Support all of the institutions proposed in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement for dealing with the past

Full implementation of the Fresh Start anti-paramilitary measures. Those who continue with paramilitarism must be pursued by all legal means and put out of business
Support the establishment of problem solving courts with a particular focus on domestic violence courts and drugs courts. This approach can reduce reoffending and save the taxpayer money
Support for the introduction of a central pro bono fund that can provide assistance in cases where legal aid is not available
Increase the maximum period of imprisonment for offences involving violence or neglect directed against the elderly or vulnerable

Ensure a greater focus on domestic violence and the victims of domestic violence
Raise the age of criminal responsibility
Update prison service policy to ensure transgender prisoners are housed in facilities correct for their gender, and not in solitary confinement
Expand community policing as part of normalising society

Continue progress towards a representative and accountable police service
Maintain access to legal aid
Reduce reoffending by ensuring prisoners can reintegrate into community after custody
Pursue truth in relation to actions of security forces during the conflict

There can be no room for leniency when dealing with those who attack older people. Introduce mandatory prison terms for those convicted of such attacks
Any person convicted of an offence where alcohol is an aggravating factor must serve at least a community service order, if not a prison sentence
Establish a dedicated multi-agency drugs strategy to target drug dealers and ringfence seized assets to help those recovering from addiction
Substantially reform the criminal justice system to deliver faster, fairer justice with increased accountability, including clear timeframes for cases and proper communication between victims, the PSNI and the Public Prosecution Service

Public confidence in the rule of law has been badly shaken due to issues such as the OTR scandal and perceived doubled standards when dealing with republican and loyal order parades. Police must work hard to address this
Address the needs of innocent victims. We have achieved things like Ann's Law, which bans terrorists from holding positions as special advisers
We support a pension for those seriously injured by terrorist actions in NI, but robustly oppose that those injured while engaged in terrorism or illegal organisations be eligible
Courts should be to bring criminals to justice and keep the public safe, not to prosecute people like Pastor James McConnell or Ashers Bakery

UKIP are a strong law and order party demanding that laws are returned to the UK and removed from the EU
Take back control of our borders and recognise, however limited, the benefits of controlled immigration
Legally review the migration impact on schools, employment, benefits and criminal activity
UKIP do not tolerate the freedom of movement left unchecked with evidence of ISIS supporters coming from the Republic of Ireland

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Agriculture

Parties listed alphabetically