Strong measures to tackle domestic violence in new Bill – Carroll MacNeill

New Criminal Justice legislation contains strong measures to tackle domestic violence, a Fine Gael TD has said. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill was speaking as the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill reached Second Stage in the Dáil this week.

“This Bill is a timely reminder of the difficulties people suffering from domestic abuse face, fearing for their safety, isolated from friends and family, in financial difficulty and potentially without a safe space or home. Dún Laoghaire is still without a Domestic Violence Refuge. I have worked with women who are involved in an ongoing criminal justice process. They need security and support, and crucially a safe space to stay. We absolutely must expedite the rollout of domestic violence refuges across the country in tandem with ongoing legislative work.

“Fine Gael is working to build stronger, safer communities, and my colleague Minister Helen McEntee has prioritised action against domestic violence in her role as Minister for Justice.

“The new Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill increases the maximum penalty for assault causing harm from 5 to 10 years. This is a really important step forward for women, considering that assault causing harm is one of the most common charges in cases of domestic abuse.

“Currently while a life sentence can be imposed for an assault causing serious harm, this only covers a very limited subset of the worst assaults.

“The terrible reality is that most assaults can only be prosecuted at the lower levels, especially where the victim has fully or mostly recovered. This means that shocking incidents involving stabbing or broken bones, multiple perpetrators, deliberate infliction of severe pain, attacks against vulnerable persons and attacks causing long-term mental detriment, might only receive a maximum sentence of 5 years. Even where a judge considers the offence as among the most serious, they are limited in their sentencing to five years, and may have to reduce that further to reflect mitigating factors such as a guilty plea. Thankfully that is about to change with this new more appropriate maximum sentence of 10 years.

“This Bill also strengthens measures around stalking and harassment. It introduces a new stalking offence defined in terms of causing either a fear of violence, or serious alarm and distress that has a substantial impact on a person’s day-to-day activities.

“A new system of civil orders targets stalking at an early stage, without requiring the level of proof associated with the criminal offences. This aims to stop the stalking behaviour before it progresses to the level of seriousness seen in some of the criminal convictions.

“Furthermore, the existing harassment offence is expanded to include any conduct that seriously interferes with a person’s peace and privacy, or causes alarm distress or harm.

“Another strong anti-domestic violence measure in this Bill is the introduction of a new non-fatal strangulation offence. This has traditionally been difficult to prosecute in cases where there are no visible injuries, but it can still have terrible lasting effects for the victim. It is unfortunately a very common aspect of domestic abuse and often a strong predictor of further violence to come.

“With these measures to target certain violent offences at an early stage, as well as stronger sentencing for assault causing harm, we are showing we are determined to tackle domestic violence and protect those at risk”, concluded Deputy Carroll MacNeill.