Debate contribution: Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Jonathan Buckley on 22 September 2026.

MLA: Mr Jonathan Buckley
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 22 September 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill: Second Stage
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5741491

Text

I thank the Member for giving way. That is a very interesting and telling point. Mr Tennyson is absolutely right that any law that is passed by this House could lead to vexatious complaints. However, when Members introduce private Member's Bills or Ministers introduce Executive legislation, it is incumbent on us to acutely identify areas in which they are vague so that any potential funnel of vexatious complaints can be narrowed as far as possible and the general public, in line with the R v Rimmington case in the House of Lords that I talked about, understand what is expected of them.
My view is that it is not good enough that we take the attitude that, just because there can be vexatious complaints, we should therefore legislate in subjective terms and therefore flood our courts with potential abuse when it comes to the number of vexatious complaints. Our priority duty should be to define the law in such a way that it is tight in scope, that individuals understand exactly what it means and that it cannot be abused.

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

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