Jim Allister bid to axe ‘ridiculous’ no-harm clause from domestic abuse bill fails

The barrister-turned-politician told the News Letter today he fears Stormont has made “a mistake that’ll be on the record for all time” by pushing ahead with the Domestic Abuse and Family Proceedings Bill without removing that clause.

In the debate on Tuesday night at Stormont, the overwhelming majority of MLAs from across all five major parties backed the bill.

It will create an offence of “domestic abuse”, which – unlike domestic violence – can be non-physical and non-threatening in nature.

This includes making a partner “dependent” on you, “controlling, regulating or monitoring” their day-to-day activities, or restricting their “freedom of action”.

(THE NEWS LETTER HAS COVERED THE BILL EXTENSIVELY, INCLUDING THE OBJECTIONS TO IT – SEE LINKS BELOW)

A large chunk of the debate was devoted to Mr Allister’s attempts to strip out Clause Three.

Clause Three states that such behaviour will be viewed as criminal “whether or not A’s behaviour actually causes B to suffer harm”.

Mr Allister described Clause Three as “farcical”, “preposterous”, and “ridiculous” during the debate.

He added that it was akin to allowing someone to be “convicted of theft without actually stealing”.

He told MLAs: “The fundamental question is this: was there harm?

“If there was no harm, while it might be utterly reprehensible behaviour, the intent of which might be odious — it clearly is — there was no harm.

“Yet the law here is trying to say: ‘Never mind that. Without harm, you can be guilty as though you had created harm’.”

Naomi Long, the Alliance justice minister who is driving the bill forward, said: “If we try to criminalise impact, that becomes very difficult.

“For example you would then be saying that it was not an offence to drive your car without wearing a seatbelt or while intoxicated, provided that no damage was caused.

“That would be a dangerous course of action.”

Doug Beattie of the UUP said this might be an issue that could be addressed by careful wording of the clause as the bill progresses.

The DUP’s Paul Frew described “domestic abuse” as “a crime that goes into your very soul”.

“We are saying to the perpetrators: You must stop this behaviour. In some cases, you might not even know that you are doing it,” he told MLAs.

“You might be as conditioned as the victim you are creating, but it has to end. We cannot abide it any more.

“We need to get this legislation passed as soon as possible and get it into play.”

Speaking to the News Letter today, Mr Allister said he will not table any more amendments to the bill as it continues its passage towards becoming law, because he has already “tried and failed”.

“I think they’ve made a mistake that’ll be on the record for all time,” he said.

“I just think in principle it disrespects the sanctity of the criminal law.”

He also said it belongs to a similar “genre” and “mentality” as the contentious Scottish hate crime legislation.

This had sought to make saying something a hate crime “where it is a likely consequence that hatred will be stirred up against such a group” – regardless of whether that was the intention (although the Scottish government appears to be rowing back from that position).

‘BILL COULD BE IN FORCE WITHIN WEEKS’

The “domestic abuse” bill could well be in place by the end of the year, a Green Party MLA said today.

The party has been strongly in favour of the bill, and North Down representative Rachel Woods hailed its most recent step towards completion in the Assembly on Tuesday, after around 12 hours of discussion.

She said there is an “urgent need to protect victims and survivors and address rising levels of domestic abuse”, adding that it is “long overdue”.

She said: “Domestic abuse has always had an insidious effect on society but incident rates have escalated during the pandemic.

“However, today we are a step closer to the aim of having new Domestic Abuse legislation in place by the end of this year.”

The News Letter has looked at the “domestic abuse” bill a number of times since it was first mooted in January.

It is the only media outlet which has looked in serious detail at the bill, including the objections to it.

It carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail.

Naomi Long, speaking in April, told MLAs that it could cover “a perpetrator humming a particular tune”.

This, she continued, “might seem trivial or even go unnoticed by other family members, friends or frontline services and the police, but it could have a specific meaning for the victim that causes them fear when considered alongside a series of other ongoing and persistent behaviours”.

Earlier this year Matthew Scott, a well-known criminal barrister in central London, told the News Letter there are “obvious evidential difficulties with proving ‘emotional’ or ‘psychological’ abuse”.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, Gavan Duffy QC, told the News Letter that “the criminalisation of certain behaviours as part of the creation of this offence is not without difficulty”.

READ MORE ON THIS SUBJECT:

Click here: PSNI warned not to over-step powers on domestic abuse after force indicates ‘giving someone the silent treatment’ is a criminal offence

Click here: Warning of pitfalls in abuse law — barristers advise caution over turning non-violent acts into crimes

Click here: New ‘domestic abuse’ law could criminalise family arguments warns top Northern Ireland barrister

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