Debate contribution: Criminal Justice (Sentencing etc) Bill: Timetable
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 9 March 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Criminal Justice (Sentencing etc) Bill: Timetable
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5453271
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The Bill was introduced last week. With the Speaker’s agreement, the Bill will come before the House for Second Reading around the start of the week after next. Obviously, you will be briefed about the Bill's content as a member of the Committee in the interim. As the Member has rightly pointed out, the Bill will cover issues in so-called no-body murder cases, such as Charlotte Murray's case, which is better known as "Charlotte's law". It will also include extensions of the penalties for dangerous driving causing death or serious injury under the influence of substances. It is important that those matters are taken forward, but there are other key pieces of legislation that fall within the Bill, and I look forward to working with the Member and the Committee to take the Bill forward.
135 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).
- 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 | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.28 | No |
| 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 | 0.85 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.08 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.03 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.03 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:05 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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