Domestic violence: Minister to decide route for abuse legislation

Stormont's justice minister has said she will decide if some laws to combat domestic abuse in NI should be taken through Westminster on Monday.

Coercive control could become a criminal offence before the summer, as part of a House of Commons bill.

But Women's Aid said they want it included in more detailed domestic abuse legislation to be taken through Stormont instead.

Naomi Long said she was "still considering" the best route to take.

On Thursday, Stormont's justice committee was told if the assembly took back control of the Northern Ireland part, it might be "the autumn or beyond" before it comes into law.

Mrs Long told Good Morning Ulster there were "advantages and disadvantages" to both timeframes.

"Westminster would be able to do it a little quicker, but there have been two false starts already," she said.

"We don't have control of their running order and it could slip down the agenda."

The bill's passage was halted in the Commons when a snap general election was called last December, but MLAs heard it could be passed by parliament before the summer.

Mrs Long said the priority was for people in Northern Ireland to be able to influence legislation.

"At the moment I feel the balance is in favour of being able to do it through the assembly - simply to allow people to be able to attend committee hearings, give evidence and challenge any draft legislation that's brought forward," the minister told BBC News NI.

"That's much more convenient than having to go to London."

'Domestic abuse commissioner'

Women's Aid urged the new justice minister to "wait and get it right".

Sonya McMullan from the charity said any legislation going through Westminster for Northern Ireland would be too diluted.

She also called for some of the elements of the Domestic Abuse Bill for England and Wales to be included in a NI bill.

She said a domestic abuse commissioner, powers to deal with domestic violence, safer family courts and child contact systems and secure tenancies had not been part of the Northern Ireland draft legislation and should be.

However, Mrs Long said she is not minded to set up a domestic abuse commissioner for Northern Ireland at this time.

She added that there may be people who take a "contrary view" and would want to present evidence to the committee.

"The committee might want to amend the bill. They will have the opportunity to do that if we go down the assembly route," she said.

Stalking

She also addressed the issue that there is no specific legalisation relating to stalking as an offence in NI.

The minister said she felt that to include stalking in the domestic abuse bill could have "conflated" the two issues.

"Stalking is a massive issue but is not always a domestic issue," she said.

Instead, she said that stalking legislation is likely to come in separately the Autumn.

Domestic abuse crimes are running at record levels in Northern Ireland, according to police figures.

They have risen by 12% in a year to 17,251, the equivalent of 47 per day.

Last year, there were calls for Northern Ireland to be included in new Westminster legislation on domestic abuse covering England and Wales.