Letter: Justice Bill is a chance to update NI’s sentencing framework – and we need public's help to ensure reforms are fair and effective
A letter from Paul Frew MLA:
As chairperson of the assembly’s committee for justice, I am inviting responses to our call for evidence on the Criminal Justice (Sentencing etc) Bill to help shape effective, balanced and deliverable reforms.
Whether you are a victim, a practitioner, a member of the public or part of a community organisation, we want to hear your views.
This Bill represents a wide‑ranging and long‑awaited update to our sentencing framework, and it is essential that we get it right. Your experiences and insights can play a vital role in helping us scrutinise the Bill and ensure that any reforms are fair, effective and capable of strengthening confidence in sentencing across NI.
The proposed reforms are a series of important measures aimed at strengthening the system, improving transparency and enhancing public confidence in how sentences are determined. They include new powers to refer and review unduly lenient sentences, a new offence relating to assaults on public workers and stronger penalties for causing death or serious injury through driving offences.
The introduction of Charlotte’s Law will establish robust new measures in cases where an offender fails to reveal the location of a victim’s remains, ensuring this is properly taken into account at sentencing.
New aggravating factors will be introduced for offences that target certain protected groups and vulnerable individuals.
The Bill will also implement a range of technical amendments designed to tidy and modernise sentencing policy and practice.
Our online call for evidence is now open and will close on 8 May. You can respond to it by cutting and pasting this link into your browser: https://lk.cmte.fyi/SentencingBill
Or send your written submissions, comments and evidence to the justice committee via email at: [email protected] or write to the Committee Clerk, Room 345, Parliament Buildings, Belfast, BT4 3XX
Paul Frew MLA, chairperson, committee for justice