Grave concerns about aspects of Stormont’s new domestic abuse law have not been addressed

Domestic abuse is, self-evidently, despicable.

Violence within the home is already illegal, has long been so and should always be so.

Domestic abuse is already much more talked about than it was only a few generations ago, and that is a good thing. If, however, society feels the matter is still not taken seriously enough, then politicians should endeavour to see that it is.

Stormont today however introduces a new law with regard to domestic abuse that has alarming scope.

It is of course the case that domestic abuse is not just violent, but can also be emotional. Most people know that verbal and other forms of emotional abuse, inside a home or out, can be harmful. It can however be very hard to prove such abuse.

Jim Allister QC, who has experience of the criminal courts that is unsurpassed in the assembly, has said the new law creates criminality where no harm need be proven: “If somebody thinks there should have been harm, it creates liability.”

Last year the News Letter highlighted concern about this legislation, but it will today in effect pass its final hurdle before becoming law. We also reported the remarkable fact that the PSNI had, before the new law, advised people not to accept “the silent treatment” from a partner.

Anyone who knows the first thing about human interaction will realise that silence encompasses a large range of conduct, including people who are non abusive but prone to huffing. Yet the concerns that this newspaper has reported about this new law have not been picked up elsewhere.

Nor were concerns we reported about how a revamp of how Northern Ireland deals with sex crime allegations, after the Gillen review, could risk innocent men being jailed. The concerns were cited by the highly respected Sir Richard Henriques, who issued a devastating report on fake sex claims.

It raises doubts about the quality of oversight at Stormont that MLAs have not demanded detailed rebuttals of the grave fears raised about these planned laws before enacting them.

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