Debate contribution: Justice Bill: Consideration Stage
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 15 June 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Justice Bill: Consideration Stage
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5614643
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for giving way. I agree with everything that she has said about amendment No 86 to date, but I also have concerns about its operability and its creating additional responsibilities for the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), which is challenging for us to do in this legislature, based on our legislative competence. The PSNI has expressed a number of concerns about the practical, legal and infrastructural consequences of amendment No 86 as drafted, as it would be a barrier to operationalising the system that is proposed. The PPS has said that it would create a lack of certainty in the law, be an inappropriate encroachment on the Assembly's lawmaking role and be an overextension of the Director of Public Prosecutions' (DPP) prosecutorial remit. The PPS is also concerned that the amendment is not compatible with article 7 rights in the European Convention on Human Rights. The Departmental Solicitor's Office has agreed with that, and the Attorney General's office has also raised a concern with us. On the basis of that analysis, I am concerned that it may fall outside the Assembly's legislative competence. I understand the idea of 12 becoming some kind of threshold with exceptions, but, as I said, I am worried about the operability of what the Member proposed.
214 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.94).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.94 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.89 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.11 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:55 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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