Every imported question, contribution and motion, with its classification. Unflagged, uncertain and not-yet-analysed records are all included so the analysis can be checked independently.
Thank you, Minister. Reflecting on that incident with the Metropolitan Police, I am sure that you will agree that the language that we use is extremely important. Your colleague from Upper Bann referred to a meeting in Portadown on relationships and sexuality education (RSE) and the people who attended it as a "dog…
As part of my role in the Department of Justice, we engage with all minority communities throughout Northern Ireland. I will continue to do that and to provide them with reassurance in the political sense. However, how the police interact with members of any community is a matter of operational responsibility for the…
As I said, it is not for me to answer for the processes that other Departments undertake. I gently remind the Member that this is Question Time for the Department of Justice, not the leader of the Alliance Party. If he wishes to ask me party political questions, there are other mechanisms through which he can do so.
Minister, you said that it was discussed, but you did not quite say whether you gave a view. It appears from the minutes of the Education Authority that the Alliance Party representative was the member of the Education Authority board who formally proposed that a secondment be agreed. Do you think that the secondment…
The appointment of people to bodies in the Department of Education is not a matter for the Justice Minister. It was discussed. It was brought to my attention that there would be a reshuffle following the ending of recruitment for new permanent secretaries. My permission was not required. It is not for me to discuss…
If I may, Mr Speaker, I will answer questions 9 and 15 together. Fundamentally, timelines for the payment of legal aid are influenced by the available budget. For many years, the Department has been significantly underfunded compared with other Executive Departments and objective need. The previous Finance Minister…
One key issue is that disclosure certificates are accurate only on the day that they are issued. Employers who choose to accept an aged certificate do so at their own risk and in the knowledge that the information may have changed in the period since the certificate was issued. It remains, however, my key objective to…
I thank the Minister for her answer. Given that many people with different types of employment require more than one check, is there any opportunity for a review of ways to remove duplication? That would prevent the individual having to go through the process again and reduce the burden on AccessNI processing those…
There are no immediate plans to undertake a fundamental review of the workings of AccessNI, but system and process enhancements are routinely considered and implemented to improve aspects of the criminal history disclosure scheme. In 2023-24, AccessNI processed over 176,000 disclosure applications across all three…
My officials are developing a detailed work plan with timescales to commence the provisions in that Act. Once it is completed, I will share it with the Justice Committee. The work plan is broken down into two main work streams: the sale, delivery and possession of corrosive products and substances; and the sale,…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as a freagraí go dtí seo. I welcome your commitment to dealing with the whole issue of knife crime. Will you give us a time frame for when you intend to introduce legislation on it?
I very much recognise the harm that can be inflicted by knife crime, and I am clear that we need to do all in our power to act to reduce the risk of harm in our community. That is why my officials are taking forward the necessary preparatory work to commence provisions in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, which together…
With the indulgence of the Executive and the Assembly, the intention is to introduce a mixed-content modernisation of justice Bill before the summer recess. The Committee would then have just over a year to process that. We hope, when that is concluded, to introduce a sentencing Bill. When that is complete, the third…
If people were made aware of the degree to which the discounting of sentences, as it is rather casually referred to, takes place, it would come as a shock to most. There are good reasons why people get a reduction in sentencing if they make a guilty plea. However, it should be the case — it certainly will be the case…
I welcome the information that you have given, Minister, in regard to Charlotte's law. Will the Minister also commit to looking, as part of the sentencing Bill, at the sentence reduction model for those who wait until the very last moment to admit guilt?
The issue of Harper's law is under consideration. It has not been agreed by the Department, but we are looking at the potential of doing something similar to what has been proposed elsewhere. Were we to decide to go down that route, we would have to look at how quickly we were able to develop proposals and how those…
The sentencing Bill that I intend to bring forward will also look at creating an aggravating factor for attacks on healthcare workers. I referenced that in the debate earlier, and I will elaborate further on some of the other measures, including those around car incidents and how they will be dealt with in the…
I thank the Minister for that answer. She will be aware of attacks on healthcare workers. Will she clarify how the Bill might protect front-line healthcare workers from attack?
It remains my intention to include legislative provision for Charlotte's law as part of a sentencing Bill, which I hope to introduce next year. Charlotte's law is intended to create measures to encourage murderers to reveal the location of their victims' remains in so-called no-body cases. That is being taken forward…
Bail and bail conditions are not matters for the Department of Justice; those decisions are taken by the judiciary or the police, depending on the circumstances. A prisoner's health is still a matter for the health service, rather than for the Department of Justice. We are trying to offer better wraparound and…
When people are bailed to an address outside their own area, what consideration is given to the impact of moving them away from their support network and their ability to access required medication? I mean the impact on the individuals themselves, of course, but also on the community in which they are placed.
With very limited secure care facilities for those with the most serious mental health and behavioural problems, it, increasingly, falls to the Department of Justice to house them. Their needs are complex, and among the main prison population is not an appropriate place for them to be held. That is not the right…
Does the Minister agree that a cross-departmental approach is required to deal with the difficult issue of the mental health of those who find themselves in prison. Having recently visited Maghaberry, I saw at first-hand a most distressing case of the mental health of someone who should not be in prison and who, in…