Debate contribution: Justice Bill: Consideration Stage
Debate contribution by Mr Brian Kingston on .
- MLA
- Mr Brian Kingston
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 15 June 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Justice Bill: Consideration Stage
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5615734
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Right. OK.
I think that we can all agree that children who are charged with or convicted of committing crimes should be dealt with differently from adults who commit crimes. That is already the case. That is why we have the Youth Justice Agency, as we recognise that a child does not have the independence of an adult. That is why social services generally become involved and consider whether parental responsibility has been lacking and whether the child and family need additional support or intervention from statutory and voluntary services.
All of those agencies can become involved or are involved already. The Criminal Justice (Sentencing etc) Bill, which the Justice Committee is now considering, sets out the purpose of sentencing. In clause 1(2) of that Bill, those are stated as:
"(a) the punishment of offenders, (b) the protection of the public (including victims of crime), (c) the reduction of crime by deterrence, (d) the rehabilitation of offenders, and (e) the making of reparation by offenders to persons affected by their offences."
That is a helpful list. I believe that those apply whether the perpetrator is an adult or a child for the purposes of punishment, protection, deterrence, rehabilitation and making reparation. In her speech — she is not in the Chamber now — Sian Mulholland seemed to imply that, for child offenders, rehabilitation is the most important purpose. I would say that rehabilitation is an important goal for all criminals to turn their lives around and not commit further crimes. However, that does not negate the importance of the other purposes of the justice system: fairness, deterrence, punishment and the protection of the public. I cannot accept the argument, which we have heard in the debate, that children aged 10, 12, 14 or 16 do not know right from wrong.
300 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: 0.06 (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 (0.92).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups.
- 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 | 0.06 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.03 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.04 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.92 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.06 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.83 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.14 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.02 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:58 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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