Domestic violence case reform pace in NI 'disappointing'

Progress to improve the handling of domestic abuse cases in Northern Ireland has been disappointing, the criminal justice inspector has said.

Jacqui Durkin said action was "more urgent than ever" and criticised the pace of progress after a 2019 report outlined necessary changes.

She has found just one recommendation had been fully achieved since then.

Justice Minister Naomi Long said her department had worked "tirelessly" over the past year to introduce changes.

The Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland review reported that four recommendations were partially achieved and two had not been achieved at all.

Domestic violence incidents rose in the first coronavirus lockdown period between March and August last year, with police officers called to a domestic incident every 16 minutes on average.

Ms Durkin said victims' homes had become a place of "fear and anxiety".

Key recommendations to implement an advocacy service to support victims of domestic abuse and to establish regional domestic abuse courts were not completed, her review found.

The inspectorate had also recommended that a properly costed, independent domestic violence advocacy service to support victims should be introduced within nine months.

She said that late last year, when her inspectors assessed the progress on changes to the way in which domestic abuse cases were handled, they found that the tender for the service had not been issued until December.

They also discovered that the service would not begin until September this year.

The inspectors were concerned that the estimated costs for the "long-awaited" service meant it would not offer victims the "single-point of contact and seamless support service" that had been envisaged.

Work to establish a domestic violence and abuse court in Belfast was paused because of the Covid-19 pandemic and a pilot scheme will not commence until autumn this year.

Mrs Long acknowledged that the introduction of the advocacy service had "not been as quick as we would have liked".

But she said: "Considerable time and effort was spent over 12 to 18 months with partners to secure a robust specification and to try [to] ensure delivery by a wide consortium of experts, which unfortunately could not be agreed by partners, meaning a procurement exercise was necessary."

Work to establish a domestic violence court at Laganside Courts in Belfast was "well under way", said the minister, adding that the pilot would focus on improving "case progression and support for victims through the advocacy service".

Mrs Long said other work carried out by her department since January 2020 included progressing stalking legislation and funding behavioural change programmes.

Ms Durkin noted that good progress had been made in sharing of information between the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Public Prosecution Service.

She commended the Department of Justice on the creation of new domestic abuse laws, which passed their final legal hurdle at Stormont in January.

She said: "The challenge going forward for the criminal justice system will be the effective implementation of the act and delivery of better services and outcomes for victims and their families."