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Minister, it is clear that that work is a priority, and the transformation funding reflects that. As you just said, however, collaboration among partners, including the legal profession, is critical to getting waiting times down. Further to questions asked earlier, is it a problem that your relationship with the…
Reducing court delay is a priority for me, my Department and Justice partners. Through the Criminal Justice Board (CJB), the speeding up justice programme is driving reform to move cases through the system more quickly and fairly. Our five priorities are earlier engagement among police, prosecutors and the defence;…
As I said in answer to Mr Chambers, it stands at around £5·5 million, of which around £1·25 million is the mutual aid cost, with the remainder being a mixture of overtime and other expenses. There will, of course, be legal bills and other things that will come in over the coming months, all of which will come out of…
Minister, is there a more precise figure for the cost to date associated with policing the attempt by the Orange Order to resume parading down the Garvaghy Road, including the cost of securing mutual aid?
I do not have those figures to hand, but I am aware that, unlike in other parts of the UK, major events still draw police resource. In other parts of the UK, that is either done by civilian contractors or the organisers pay for that work to be done. I know that the police and the Policing Board have been looking at…
I declare an interest as a member of the Policing Board. I understand that the cost of policing the Garvaghy Road has been outlined, but can the Minister give us an assessment of the cost to the Executive or to her Department of policing over 2,500 parades every year, not only the financial costs but the costs to our…
I have already taken the opportunity, during previous questions and statements, to make it clear that I believe that unlawful activity and unnotified parades are things that Members of the House should not be engaged in. I also believe that Members should not be engaged in trying to draw me, as Justice Minister, into…
I thank the Justice Minister for her answer. Does the Minister agree that elected representatives should be trying to help to ease the pressures on our policing rather than adding to those pressures on policing resource? Will she, as Justice Minister, condemn the First Minister and, indeed, other elected…
The Member is right. At the moment — the caveat being that it is just at the moment — the costs are around £5·5 million for the policing operation. I would not go as far as to say that I am hopeful that the NIO will make an exception when it comes to the issue, but I will certainly make that case to it, because,…
Thank you, Minister, for that. I agree that the costs will continue to increase over coming months. Notwithstanding the current discussions between the Executive and the Northern Ireland Office about the Budget, are you hopeful that an exemption or an exception might be made and that the Northern Ireland Office will…
With your permission, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker, I wish to answer questions 6 and 9 together. The Chief Constable took the decision to engage mutual aid assistance for the ongoing policing operation at Drumcree, and I support him in that decision. Mutual aid comes at a cost, and that cost is increasing daily. The…
There are two things to say. Character references are used at two points in the system. The first is during the trial, and any interference with that could prejudice the right to a fair trial. One thing that Sir John Gillen raised in his review of serious sexual offences was the imbalance, in that victims will often…
The Minister will be aware that, throughout the evidence-gathering part of our Committee deliberations to date, we have heard robust responses from those engaged in domestic and sexual violence cases and advocacy groups for those victims stating that character references are not appropriate in such cases. Minister, am…
One option for reform is to introduce a requirement that good-character references must be provided in the form of an affidavit and that, where evidence is to be given orally before the court, it must be given by oath or affirmation. That is similar to the recent reforms introduced in Ireland. It would serve to…
Thank you, Minister, for your efforts on the matter in an already compressed mandate. Can you give any more information about the options under consideration in the consultation?
You will be aware that, on 8 October, my Department launched its consultation on good-character references at sentencing in criminal proceedings, which will run until Thursday 3 December 2026. If the Department can identify a straightforward legislative approach to introducing reform based on the feedback to that…
The Northern Ireland Prison Service has established processes in place to ensure that the Home Office is notified of all foreign national offenders who receive a custodial sentence within 10 working days of sentencing. Following notification, responsibility for assessing an individual's immigration status and…
Minister, you have been clear that it is the responsibility of the Home Office to manage the removal of foreign national prisoners where appropriate. Will you please outline what procedures are in place with the Home Office for the deportation of foreign nationals who have been given custodial sentences in Northern…
As I have said, at the moment, there are around 249 foreign national prisoners in our prison system. That figure is a combination of sentenced and remand prisoners; those who are legally resident in Northern Ireland; life-sentence or indeterminate-sentence prisoners; and determinate-sentence prisoners. It is only the…
I thank the Minister for her answer. I think that most members of the public would be astounded to hear that, despite all the pressures on our prison and justice services, our system is at odds with that in the rest of the UK and foreign prisoners who have come to this country and committed a crime can simply opt out…
The early removal scheme introduced by the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 allows eligible foreign national prisoners who are serving a fixed-term, determinate sentence to be removed from the UK up to 135 days before the end of their requisite custodial period, subject to agreement by the Home Office. The scheme…
There are a number of things to consider. Tomorrow, we will announce who will undertake the review, and, obviously, they will look at what happens in other jurisdictions to inform their review. I do not want to take positions on that at this point in time, but it is certainly something that will be considered.…
That is a really important piece of work. Lots of people are concerned about those who are subject to a trial of the facts and then make a full recovery. There is not a great deal that we can do about such cases, and we see that in the legislation in England, Scotland, Wales and here. Will the Minister consider the…
The review is intended to examine whether the orders available to the courts provide adequate protection for the public. That includes considering whether sex offender notification requirements and other safeguarding measures should apply following findings involving acts that would otherwise constitute serious sexual…
Minister, you have just said that you have concerns, and you will know, of course, that the public have concerns. How will the review address those concerns about public protection and fairness?