Domestic abuse: Landmark bill changes 'could have cost £1bn'

Last minute changes to a proposed bill to strengthen NI's domestic abuse laws could have cost up to £1bn without proper checks, the justice minister has said.

The bill will not finish its legislative process this year after its latest stage was postponed on Monday.

Naomi Long said it was a "hugely disappointing day and a very difficult decision to make".

But speaking to BBC Radio Foyle, Mrs Long defended her decision to postpone.

She said she had "no choice" but to take the unusual step to postpone the bill due to financial implications one proposal could have.

Last month, the assembly passed an initial proposal from Green Party MLA Rachel Woods, which would effectively widen access to legal aid for victims and survivors in child contact cases.

A second amendment from Stormont's justice committee, scheduled to be debated in the further consideration stage, would ensure the legal aid provisions take effect at the same time as the new domestic abuse offences come into use.

Mrs Long told the assembly that guidance from the Treasury was that this could have a "repercussive effect" and leave the executive liable to bear financial costs in other parts of the UK, if the legal aid amendment was not withdrawn.

• Landmark bill's passage at Stormont postponed

She told the Breakfast Show that the amendment to widen legal aid access in some domestic abuse cases had not received "due diligence".

The Alliance Party leader insisted that domestic abuse victims were not being failed again by the delay of the bill.

"It is unfortunate that we couldn't secure the support of the committee to withdraw one of the amendments which would have tied our hands on when we introduce the legal aid provisions," she said.

Justice Minister Naomi Long said the legal aid amendment would have a "repercussive effect"

"The Department of Finance discovered that if we change the legal aid system here, someone in England could claim they are disadvantaged and if the Ministry of Justice lose their claim, we would have to pay the cost of that.

"This could have cost up to £1bn in block grants so it's not a minor amount of money and not something Northern Ireland could sustain."

She said the next consideration stage will be delayed by about a week and a half.

"It's not ideal, it's not where I want to be, but unfortunately in terms of responsibility for finances I had no alternative."