All of Mr Eóin Tennyson’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
I am happy to repeat myself. The safeguards in the Bill are these: the individual must be operating with intent; there must be either a formal course of therapy or a coercive course of behaviour consistent with the definition employed in domestic abuse law; there must be a specific, identified victim; and the…
Can the Member help me with the point that he is trying to make? In what circumstances or in what world would a parent disciplining their child in a reasonable way, restricting their access to their phone or social media, preventing the child from being exposed to inappropriate material, be deemed to be motivated by…
No, because the mens rea in the Bill relates to intent to suppress or change sexual orientation or gender identity. The Member would struggle to point to a piece of criminal legislation that includes two mental elements rather than one. Typically, in such cases as domestic abuse, where the test is recklessness as to…
I am genuinely grateful to the Member for giving way, because these are important issues that are worthy of debate. As I said in my opening remarks, there is a policy judgement to be made by the Assembly on whether to go with the wording "fear, alarm or distress", "fear, alarm or distress, excluding trivial and…
I thank the Member for giving way. I intervene genuinely to be helpful. In my opening remarks, I referenced the fact that the UK Government's Bill includes a more explicit statutory definition than the one that we have employed, and I said that I was open to replicating that definition at Consideration Stage. If…
I thank the Member for generously giving way. If she reads clause 7 of the Bill, she will see that it expressly states: "there is no intent to change or suppress sexual orientation or gender identity if— (a) there is no intent to direct a victim towards a particular sexual orientation or gender identity" — and if —…
It is a question that was posed during my opening speech, and I answered it. The answer is that it is not a question of whether a term used in the Bill is contested; the question is whether the courts will be capable of applying that concept, not to criminalise a belief about a particular gender identity but to…
I thank the Member for giving way. The fact that the legislation has passed the competence checks and is on the Floor for debate is evidence of how flawed that legal opinion is, and "legal opinion" is putting it strongly. I met the Christian Institute, which commissioned the advice. I note that the Member was keen to…
I thank the Member for the opportunity to respond, and it is important that we clarify this once again. The Equality Commission and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission are able to undertake equality screening only of policy change that they themselves are introducing. It is not their role to equality screen…
I thank the Member for giving way. Again, this is where I think that, at times, common ground in the debate is lost in the heat of media commentary. I agree. People should be free to express views, to seek to influence others and to seek to persuade others. The problem that the Bill seeks to remedy is where people are…
I reiterate the point that, first, all the tests would have to be met: intent; coercive behaviour against a victim; and harm. I have outlined how the harm test is higher and not lower than existing offences of domestic abuse and of cruelty to a child. The definition of "psychological harm" that includes "fear, alarm…
He is conflating coaching and instructing from the first offence with coercive control as per the second offence. They are two separate things, and they are dealt with very differently. As with domestic abuse, there is a reasonable person test. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that a legitimate exercise in parental…
That is precisely why we have taken the approach of having two separate offences. It is so that the framework on coercive control provides some comfort, is clear and deals with the precedent that has already been set in law. I will give way to Mr Burrows briefly.
I want to make this point, and then I may take some interventions before I conclude. The use of the word "therapy" is essential because, when looking at coaching, instructing, counselling or a purported treatment, a court would have to be satisfied that that was conversion therapy — that it was therapeutic in nature.…
I think that I have dealt with that point on a number of occasions, but I am willing to repeat it because it is really important. There are two offences. The first deals with the more formal provision of therapy, such as someone claiming to have specific knowledge or a specific skill or ability or someone providing…
The Member is absolutely correct. As I said, we looked closely at the domestic abuse framework. The concepts of "coercion" and "harm" are already defined in law and are already successfully operated and interpreted by the courts, and there have been no examples of perverse or unintended consequences from the…
I will make some progress and come back to the Minister. The Minister claimed that a preacher speaking from a pulpit on ordinary Church teaching on sexuality could be criminalised. That is also false. The behaviour in question has to be targeted at a specific identified individual, and general statements of opinion…