Debate contribution: Justice Bill: Consideration Stage

Debate contribution by Ms Emma Sheerin on 2 June 2026.

MLA

Ms Emma Sheerin

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

2 June 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Justice Bill: Consideration Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5584932

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the group 2 amendments relating to child bail, custody arrangements and live links. I also welcome the tone in which the debate has been carried out so far. I put on record again my thanks to everyone involved on the staff side from the Department, the Committee and the Bill Office in getting us to where we are. I welcome the focus from the Minister in the Bill on youth justice and children's rights as a priority. That represents progressive and positive legislation that better implements the principles of public authorities in representing the best interests of children in their decision-making as a priority, as we are mandated to do in the Justice Act 2002. That is positive and should be welcomed. I will speak specifically about amendment No 44, which gives me grave concern. I note that the Member for North Antrim has left his seat, but I found his contribution kind of concerning and confusing, if I am honest. The amendment aims to begin youth custody orders at the minimum age of criminal responsibility, as opposed to at 14 as proposed by the Minister. That is something that we in Sinn Féin will not support. I cannot get my head around the rationale for it. The amendment stands in stark contrast to the positive principles of the Bill, which I referred to. It seeks to change the age at which a child may be subject to a youth custody and supervision order from 14 to the minimum age of criminal responsibility, which is currently 10. I know that we are going to have further debate about changing the minimum age of criminal responsibility, so I do not want to stray into that. I am kind of confused because the Member in his earlier remarks seemed to suggest that that would almost be motivation for Members to increase the age of criminal responsibility to match it at 14. That is Sinn Féin party policy, and we have an amendment, with other parties, to reflect that. I would like to see the DUP support that, but I am confused because I know that the Member has tabled a petition of concern. He is not here to answer through an intervention, and I do not know whether any of his party colleagues want to come in to give some explanation.

Oh right. OK. I cannot understand that position. The evidence tells us, as we touched on in the earlier debate, that children who are in the system and criminalised from a young age have much greater rates of reoffending and that a compassionate approach to children and young people leads to less crime. Apart from anything else, diversionary measures and restorative justice practices are better for everyone involved. We know that custody should not be used for under-14s as it currently stands, unless for very serious offences. That is in line with the consultees who responded to us on that matter. To move away from existing practices and norms in such a dramatic fashion without consulting either publicly or with the Youth Justice Agency, the Probation Board, the PSNI, the Courts and Tribunals Service or any other criminal justice agency would be a dereliction of our duties as MLAs. I am somewhat confused, and, as I said, the news of the petition of concern submitted in the name of the Member who tabled amendment No 44 is, in my view, a stunt and an abuse of that power as it was written in the Good Friday Agreement. His contribution today further suggested that, because it sounds like it was a disingenuous attempt and that he does not want to change the minimum age of criminal responsibility at all. I would appreciate clarity on that. We should all be working together here to stop stigmatising children and young people who find themselves in situations that none of us wants them to be in. We should be supporting young people in those scenarios and providing them with compassion and empathy as opposed to criminalising young people and setting them on a negative path for the rest of their life.

693 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:46 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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