Published date:
Responding to the publication of the Annual Review of The Effectiveness of Part 1 of The Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021 year two progress review by the Criminal Justice Inspectorate Northern Ireland (CJINI), the Commissioner Designate for Victims of Crime Geraldine Hanna said:
“I welcome this report from CJINI and I am pleased that progress is being made against many of the recommendations.
“However, as is made clear in this report, there is still much to be done.
“Delay and data collection are both strategic priorities for me and I am concerned at the increase in time it takes for cases to get to court as well as the challenges cited in the collection of data regarding domestic abuse aggravators when they do get there.
“The need for continued focus and collaboration across the relevant agencies to achieve the full benefits of this Act is reinforced in this report. Operation Encompass is a perfect example of this.
“I am a big supporter of Operation Encompass, which involves police officers phoning schools to tell them when one of their pupils has been affected by a domestic abuse incident, allowing those schools to better respond to the child’s needs.
“The sheer volumes of calls to be made however often means that these calls will not be completed before the start of the school day negating some of the benefits to the children involved. The electronic sharing of such information is vital, a point which I highlighted in a meeting with the Education Minister last April.
“The CJINI report acknowledges ongoing collaboration between PSNI and EA with plans to introduce a pilot for this in early 2025. I think the public have every right to ask however why it is taking so long for something with such obvious benefits for victims, not to mention the positive impact it could have on resource pressures facing police and teaching staff, to be implemented.
“I have no doubt that the PSNI and EA both want to do everything they can for children affected by domestic abuse, but once again the pace of change is just too slow, our systems too bureaucratic and it is victims who suffer.
“I have no doubt there will have been a moment in the past year when a child has gone to school after being involved in a domestic abuse incident, who could have really benefited from their teacher knowing that first thing in the morning.
“For victims to have confidence in our system it’s not enough for laws to be passed. They have to bring about real change and that’s why reports like this from CJINI are so important, they give an insight into how this crucial piece of legislation is actually working. We must now turn our efforts to swift achievement against the recommendations”