Local legal practitioners address European Conference on Domestic Violence

Belfast barrister Grainne Murphy and solicitor Claire Edgar of Francis Hanna & Co. Solicitors provided an address on the topic of Northern Ireland’s domestic violence legislation during the European Conference on Domestic Violence in Reykjavik, Iceland last week.

The conference was attended by delegates from across the world and was aimed at providing an opportunity for practitioners, policy makers and researchers to come together to highlight the impact of domestic violence on individuals and society as well as sharing research findings and best practice developments across Europe and beyond.

The provisions of the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) came into effect in February 2022. Grainne Murphy BL was a key contributor on behalf of the Bar Council during the Department of Justice’s consultation process. Grainne also led on the development and delivery of a conference in February 2023 on behalf of the Bar of NI, marking one year since the implementation of the legislation.

Grainne Murphy BL said:

“The Reykjavik conference brought together international experts and practitioners with expertise in the offence of domestic violence and its impact on victims and survivors and wider society.

“There was huge interest in the criminal and family justice responses to Domestic Abuse within the Northern Irish context. Engaging with international partners enabled Claire and I to draw out differences and similarities in the legislative response to domestic abuse across a range of jurisdictions. Interestingly, we discerned that resourcing of the legal and justice sectors was a common theme and area of concern. For example, we had the opportunity to engage with South African colleagues who relayed that victims of domestic violence were failed by a lack of resource with which to hold perpetrators to account through the criminal justice system and prevent domestic abuse through preventative and education programmes.”

Solicitor Claire Edgar added:

“During and post COVID, the increasing refusal by the Northern Irish Courts to grant emergency Orders under the Family Homes & Domestic Violence (NI) Order 1998 meant that victims of domestic abuse often lacked protection and perpetrators were not accountable for their actions at a time when the ‘stay at home’ guidelines were creating an increased risk of abuse.

“The theme of this year’s Conference was ‘precarity’ and this provided a great opportunity to highlight this issue and explore how changes to the application of the law by our Courts in NI resulted in various legal challenges on the lack of protection for victims.”

ENDS

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