All of Mrs Naomi Long’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
I thank the Member for giving way. I realise that he has not seen the draft text, but he has heard the policy intent, which I set out in my speech, and therefore knows exactly what we intend to do. They are not controversial issues. They are issues that have been on the agenda for a long time, such as, as Mr Frew…
On the processes of the House, the Member will be aware that any Member can table an amendment at Consideration Stage. There is no opportunity whatsoever for the Committee to consider those amendments, yet it is entirely appropriate and normal for that to happen. That is the right of every person in the Chamber. My…
On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. To dismiss something that is not even an Act as bad law indicates to me that the Member is not across the detail of what we are doing here. What we have are proposals for legislation. What we do not have is law, good or bad.
On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. The Member has claimed — I think that this is the second occasion in the House — that it is unprecedented for a Minister to bring amendments to their own Bill. I ask the Deputy Speaker to reflect on that, because that is factually inaccurate. In fact, every mixed-content justice…
It would be unfair to say that I arrived in the Chamber today and announced that we were bringing six additional areas of policy through. That is not the case. We have been in continual contact with the Committee. We have had briefings on the policy intent of those six areas and we have provided that detail to the…
I am not sure how much clearer I can be. No one is quibbling about the intent or about what we are trying to achieve. It takes time to draft the primary legislation in the context of it being primary legislation, which is considerably different to the drafting of regulations. Therefore, until it is drafted by…
It is because there is a distinct difference between drafting regulations and drafting primary legislation. The coronavirus regulations as drafted could not simply be transplanted into primary legislation. Moreover, some changes will be made as a result of the experience of working through live links. The provision is…
It is interesting that the Member raises the issue of children and vulnerable adults, because it is precisely for children and vulnerable adults that live links have proven to be essential. They have allowed us, for example, to have domestic violence contest cases heard via live link so that the person who was abused…
The Member will be aware that Professor Ray Jones did a report on the amalgamation, essentially, of children's services, including youth justice. The foundation element of that was to bring forward a children's services agency and then there would be a transition, and the hope is that we will be able to do that. There…
The Member is being very generous. It is important that we put some of those points to rest during the debate. I do not want my speech at the end to be so long that everybody has fallen asleep, and Justin has to tell them to wake up. The policy intent of each of the six areas has been laid out before the Committee, so…
I thank the Member for being so generous in giving way. The specific issue is about creating two new offences. One is the direction of organised crime, which has been defined in policy terms and which you will see in the legislation. The other is a separate offence of participating in organised crime, which is where,…
There are two separate issues, and it is important to disentangle them. One is the wider review of criminal and civil legal aid, which is ongoing. Judge Burgess has provided a report on that, and it will look at the taxing master as one issue. There is a slightly separate issue on where the taxing master, as currently…
I am pleased that the Member has given way. How can the amendments be late, given the fact that Bills are amended at Consideration Stage and that this is the Second Stage of the process?
It is incorrect to say that, in the absence of an Assembly, officials were able to continue to work on proposals. They could work on some proposals, but, as with all Bills, they require ministerial direction on matters that are politically sensitive. Therefore, it was not possible to draft the legislation directions…
I am pleased to bring my Justice Bill before the Assembly today. On my reappointment as Minister of Justice in February 2024 —. I beg to move Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am pleased to do this a second time. I am pleased to bring the Justice Bill to the Assembly today. On my reappointment as Minister of Justice in…
Yes. Sir John Gillen recommended that publicly funded, independent legal advice should be made available to all victims in cases of serious sexual offences. We introduced the SOLAs scheme as a response to that. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I was really pleased to confirm that, as part of the…
On 25 September, the Minister of Health and I announced the launch of the seven-year domestic and sexual abuse strategy, jointly led by the Department of Health and the Department of Justice. It was launched at an event hosted by the NSPCC and attended by those in the voluntary and community sector who helped to shape…
That transition has historically been one of the difficult parts of the system. Whilst we do a lot of work to ensure that there is a proper transition for people leaving custody, including having accommodation and support in the community, it is not always a seamless process. Unfortunately, for many prisoners, when…
There are many areas in the justice system where the Department of Health and the Department of Justice work together. For example, we already do so in the area of domestic and sexual violence and abuse: we launched a joint strategy last week. Along with the Department of Education, we launched a further strategy on…