Debate contribution: Justice Bill: Consideration Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Jon Burrows on 15 June 2026.

MLA

Mr Jon Burrows

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

15 June 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Justice Bill: Consideration Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5615059

Read the official Assembly record

Text

At the very core of my values is putting victims and public protection first; it would go against every fibre of my being to do anything less. Some debates in the Chamber are administrative, technical or abstract. This one was not. This debate was going to fundamentally change our justice system; it went to the heart of public safety, of victims having accountability and of the Police Service and Public Prosecution Service being able to prove or disprove an offence. Frankly, it was in danger of confusing compassion and dangerous naivety. There is nothing more dangerous than a little knowledge, and what I have heard tonight demonstrates, I am afraid, a little knowledge. There have been fundamental misunderstandings of what the minimum age of criminal responsibility —.

The record will show that I was about three or four minutes late.

In any case, what I have heard is sufficient. There has been a fundamental misunderstanding in the Chamber about what the minimum age of criminal responsibility is. I genuinely believe that, if a responsible legislature were going to make such a significant change, the place would have been full. Westminster or the Dáil would be full. This place is half empty.

I will not give way at the minute.

I will give way in one second.

And the Member's —

There was a fundamental misunderstanding of what the minimum age of criminal responsibility is. The interventions were consistently about diversion instead of putting people into prison. That happens under the existing law because the minimum age of criminal responsibility does not relate to how an offender is dealt with once there is a case against them but is the minimum floor at which an offender can enter the criminal justice system. The vast majority of young people aged 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 or even 15 are —

I will give way in one second. — diverted anyway. We have a compassionate and flexible criminal justice system that makes diversion the primary way of dealing with young people but gives the option for the police to gather evidence to intervene in a case and, in extremis, to take cases to court. Amendment No 82 in particular was ill-thought-out. Let me spell out precisely what amendment No 82 says. If I have read it correctly, there is complete immunity for any child of 10 or 11 for any offence. If the amendment that is co-signed by the Alliance Party, Sinn Féin and the SDLP were to pass, a 10-year-old who was in exactly the same circumstances as those involved in the Jamie Bulger case — it is right to talk about a serious case, because serious cases, although rare, are not non-existent — were to abduct, torture and murder someone, as was done to Jamie Bulger, the police could not even arrest them, seize their clothes, subject them to forensic evidence —.

Yes, I will give way.

You first, Mr Tennyson.

We are talking about the rights of victims who are sexually abused and about justice, and that is the best that you can do. That was a shameful intervention.

I will give way. Hopefully, it is for a better intervention than that one.

It may surprise those who are listening at home that I am not proposing to change the law. It is not for me to propose that. The age of 10 is a minimum floor that has worked. Let us look at it. The exact circumstances —. They can shake their heads, but what if one of their constituents approached them and said, "My child was abducted, tortured and murdered, and there are two suspects, both of whom deny it, and the Police Service can't even make an arrest to confirm or dispel which one did it"?

When I raised the fact about taking biometric samples, such as DNA — I think that it was to Ms Mulholland's disappointment — the Justice Minister jumped to her feet and said that they could do it voluntarily. Voluntarily? Someone has been raped or murdered, and we are relying on a voluntary requirement.

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I will give way to Mr Givan.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:57 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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