Naomi Long
East Belfast · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“Underneath the Facebook posts to say that he had passed away, people speculated with such comments as, "Probably high on drugs", "Probably drunk", and, "Typical boy racer". There was all of that speculation. It was hurtful to the family, and it was inaccurate.”
“There are circumstances that we need to consider and be careful of. I was told, for example, that, when the issue of good character references at trial was being looked at in New South Wales — Committee members may wish to look at this for themselves — one of the groups that opposed their removal was representative of domestic abuse victi…”
“It sets out the strategic direction adopted by the Department and key partners to tackle those appalling crimes and protect vulnerable victims of exploitation.”
“The provision seeks to provide protection, via legal advice and representation for complainants, against the use of non-relevant personal material and evidence of previous sexual history being used in the court process.”
“<BR /> <BR />On the wider issue of ensuring that a withdrawal of services never happens again, I think that most of us agree that, although everyone has the right to take industrial action, no one has the right to derail and hold to ransom the entire justice system in that way.”
“Those measures will go some way towards helping to support complainants and enable them to have input into the decision-making process about what records containing their personal and sensitive information are required to be shared with the defence.”
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“I have engaged with the Education Minister on child sexual exploitation and child criminal exploitation but not specifically on targeted advertising around non-fatal strangulation. Part of the issue is about the differing views that people have of how explicit our relationships and sexuality education should be.”
“It is putting young people's lives at risk: young women's lives, when they get involved with partners, and young men's lives, because they will end up in prison for serious offences.”
“Those measures have added real, tangible and valuable protections, and the extension of the Bill will add to the cadre of offences that we are dealing with. <BR /> <BR />It is important that people recognise just how serious the issue is, particularly for young people. The study that was done and the evidence that was presented to it showed that a significant number of young women around the age of 14 had already been subjected to suffocation and strangulation. Young men as young as 10 had asked teachers how they could safely choke girls during sex, and 13% of sexually active girls aged 14 to 17 had already been choked. If we do not get to grips with the issue now, we will see an epidemic of that kind of behaviour.”
“Members will know that I am passionate about that. Where possible, I want to address serious sexual offending. In the previous mandate, I introduced a new domestic abuse offence that marked a step change in capturing controlling and coercive behaviour. I introduced new offences of stalking, upskirting, downblousing and cyberflashing and four new offences to tackle adults who pretend to be a child with a view to sexual grooming that bolstered the child grooming offences and are unique to Northern Ireland. I also created a stand-alone offence of non-fatal strangulation and enhanced protections around offences of the abuse of a position of trust and the disclosing of private sexual images.”
“Non-fatal strangulation and asphyxiation or suffocation is already illegal across the UK. As Members know, I provided for that offence in the Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022. However, its depiction in pornography normalises the behaviour and, as the review found, is having a malign influence on men and boys' perceptions of its real-world impact.”
“However, the independent review of pornography commissioned by the previous UK Government and carried out by Baroness Bertin was concerned that images of non-fatal strangulation or suffocation may not be caught by the offence, having found no evidence of anyone being prosecuted for content on the basis of such images. Worryingly, the review also highlighted that strangulation and suffocation pornographic content is rife on mainstream platforms and is having real-world impacts on how people are having sex, particularly amongst young people. <BR /> <BR />The provision proposed in the Crime and Policing Bill implements the recommendations of that review that depictions of non-fatal strangulation and suffocation should be clearly and explicitly captured in illegal pornography offences.”
“The UK Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently making its way through Westminster, contains provision to criminalise the possession and publication of pornography portraying strangulation and suffocation. I have been engaging with the UK Government and intend, subject to Members' agreement, to extend that provision to Northern Ireland to ensure that similar protections are afforded here. <BR /> <BR />The provision aims to strengthen existing protections provided under section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which extends to Northern Ireland as well as England and Wales and criminalises the possession of extreme pornographic images. Under the existing provision, an image falls within the scope of the offence where it portrays an act that threatens a person's life.”
“The review and refresh of the NISAR framework documentation may be a better opportunity for us to engage on the issue, because the appeal on the original application has been exhausted. The organisation can, of course, reapply down the line.”
“It is not yet on the register. As you are aware, on the basis of the working group's assessment there was no identified further need at the time that it applied. The rules were applied as they stand at the moment. That decision was appealed, and the final stage of appeal came to me. The rules, as they are at this point in time, have been correctly applied, so that decision was not overturned. However, as I said, a review of access to the NISAR list is available. It may therefore be worth considering whether a meeting would be helpful later, once those reviews are under way. <BR /> <BR />I am aware of that organisation's work, and I have met them. This is not about individual organisations but about the capacity that is required in the work of those involved in those high-risk missing persons cases.”
“I understand from the PSNI that, in the case of a voluntary organisation with deep-sea diving skills, the standard provided by a voluntary diving team may not meet the standard of a commercial one and that that has been an issue around tasking. <BR /> <BR />We are, of course, happy to meet the Member's request for a meeting. However, we offered a meeting when you wrote to me on 25 September, and you have not yet taken that offer up.”
“The process is no different from the one that I described. I am aware of the organisation to which you referred and that it had approached NISAR for additional information but had not applied for membership. To be clear, the decision on the accepted standard and qualifications that are required is reviewed and considered by the policy and practitioners group under the guidance of the PSNI, because it is the tasking authority. As the tasking authority, it has legal responsibility for managing search and rescue incidents, so it is for it to determine whether voluntary rescue organisations may be used and which ones.”
“The Department also provides approximately £100,000 of grant funding each year, subject to availability of budget year-on-year, which is shared across the current nine voluntary search and rescue organisations to help to sustain their capability.”
“That capability is assessed by a NISAR subgroup of statutory organisations with responsibility for providing search and rescue services against any gaps in current service provision. Through that process, NISAR can identify where an organisation may add value in supporting the tasking authority in high-risk missing person searches. The process for applications to join NISAR is focused on assessing capability, readiness and suitability to contribute to the NISAR arrangements. <BR /> <BR />A review and refresh of the NISAR framework, including the application process, is in progress. The Department continues to support the NISAR voluntary organisations through ongoing engagement and support on operational search and rescue issues at practitioners group meetings.”
“Northern Ireland search and rescue (NISAR) coordinates, supports and assures the quality of voluntary search and rescue provision for high-risk missing persons across Northern Ireland to ensure that the statutory risk tasking authority, which is responsible for requesting, directing and overseeing search and rescue deployment, has access to the appropriate capability and capacity to support delivery of search and rescue operations within the NISAR remit. <BR /> <BR />When organisations apply to join NISAR, the application process facilitates the gathering of relevant information against set criteria, including the skills that each organisation can provide and that will be deployed by the statutory tasking authority.”
“I have always said that, when given the evidence that there is a requirement for fees to be changed, I am willing to respond positively to it. I have done more than say it; I have done it. What I will not do, however, is depart from 'Managing Public Money Northern Ireland' and the accountability that is required of me as Justice Minister in that regard.”
“I have always been clear that I am supportive of the criminal Bar and criminal solicitors and the work that they do. The solicitors' criminal Bar has provided me with evidence, as part of the working group, that has allowed us to move on a parole pilot and to increase PACE fees to ensure that people who are in the courts and need support immediately get it. What I will not do is pay additional fees to people who are already being paid particularly well, unless they can prove with evidence that the uplifts in those fees are justified. Tom Burgess said that there was justification for a 16% uplift on the basis of the evidence that was presented to him. He presented that to me, I accepted that, and I backdated it to December 2024. <BR /> <BR />To be absolutely clear, there has been no change in my position.”
“— and the Commissioner Designate for Victims of Crime.”
“I sat down with them to look at how we could handle those issues in a way that would expedite a return to full service delivery in the Crown Court and to press with them that, as an interim measure, I would like to see the derogations that have been requested for the most serious cases to be dealt with as generously as possible. <BR /> <BR />I also met last week the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), the voluntary and community sector support organisations —”
“Members of the Justice Committee, who have perhaps been watching this more closely, will be aware that we postponed the issue of cases left on the books until the end of the process in order to give us more time to work with the criminal Bar to address that issue. I have also looked at interim payments, which are important for the cash flow of solicitors and young barristers. We have done lots of things. <BR /> <BR />I met the criminal Bar last week, as I said, and it was a constructive meeting. In response to my letter of 5 January, I got a much clearer idea of what it was that the criminal Bar actually wanted to discuss at this stage. We were able to sit down and look at that ask. Not all of it will be achievable, and I think that they appreciate that that is the case.”
“When I made my statement last week, I set out the engagement that I had had. I had written to members of the criminal Bar individually to apprise them, first, of the action that I had taken in respect of the request that had been made of me around what we refer to as the "16% uplift" in fees — actually, in some cases, it is more than 16%, but that was the broad sweep of uplift that had happened — and in respect of setting up the working group as requested under the chairmanship Judge Burgess. As I went along, I set out all the other asks that had been made and the progress on those.”
“What I would like to do? I have described it as a funnel. I would like the means test to be broader and encompass more people: for example, those who are working but in low-income jobs and may not be able to afford legal advice. I want it to be focused on getting the right advice as early as possible, so that we avoid burdening the court system down the line. I also want to look at the types of cases that are funded to ensure that those are the ones that have the biggest impact on an individual or on points of public law, so that we do not fund anything that is not absolutely essential. <BR /> <BR />There is a definite difference in Northern Ireland. I do not want to read too much into it, but, in fairness, we cannot neglect the fact that we spend more on criminal legal aid than other parts of these islands.”
“One of my concerns in enabling access to justice, for example, is that the means test that applies for eligibility to legal aid is set so that the majority of people who do not qualify under that means test still do not find it affordable to access justice.”
“At the moment, we spend around £44 a head on criminal legal aid in Northern Ireland. The equivalent in England, Scotland and Wales is around £22 a head. There are reasons why that may be the case in the Northern Ireland context, however there are significant differences.”
“I want to see a fairly paid, sustainable criminal Bar and solicitor profession, but I do not create all the conditions for that. My only leverage is around legal aid. The remainder, on sustainability of the profession, is a matter for the Bar Council itself and for the Law Society, but I will do what I can to support any action that they might take to make that more possible.”
“With an ageing criminal Bar and with that deficit of young people being able to make their way, it is part of the overall review of enabling access to justice that we have been taking forward as a Department. <BR /> <BR />Part of that will be around the issue of refresher fees. I do not intend to labour the issue of refresher fees again today, because I realise that it is complex and is subject to discussions with the CBA at this time. I believe that my officials are with the CBA at the moment; at least, they are meant to be if things have gone according to plan. Refresher fees will be incredibly important in redistributing some of the work within the criminal Bar, as will some of the reform that we are hoping to do on the various court tiers.”
“I thank the Member for his question, and I think that that is a key issue. We know that there are high levels of attrition in the criminal Bar, particularly with newly qualified barristers, and that it is very difficult for people to get, if you like, a foot on the ladder and to gain experience. There are competing tensions in this. Some people will say that they want to have the best possible and most experienced barrister, and that is, of course, everyone's right whether they are legally aided or not. Equally, we have to have a profession that is sustainable, and that relies on being able to give newly qualified barristers the experience that they need to be able to become those most experienced in their field and in the profession.”
“It demonstrates the core point that I was trying to make, which is that the fact that young barristers are not able to earn a living is not down to the rates of pay but down to the poor distribution of cases amongst the Bar and the concentration of large numbers of cases with a small number of barristers. <BR /> <BR />I am happy to correct the record where I have been wrong, despite what some people say, and I am not about winning an argument here. I am about protecting public money, and I have to be. Were I to come to the Chamber in the context of the budgetary constraints that we face having been profligate in my spending of public money, I am sure that the leader of the Opposition would be the first to his feet to suggest that that is a character trait of mine.”
“I note that, every time that the Member asks a question, he tries in some way to impugn my character or my integrity as part of his questioning. It can never simply be that there is a disagreement and that I am trying to resolve that disagreement. He always has to have a dig at me personally when he asks his question. That is not what I am here to answer. <BR /> <BR />I have already put on the record my error in that quote. Let us be absolutely clear then, for the avoidance of doubt. One barrister — one barrister — received £3·98 million over a three-and-a-half-year period that ended in September 2025. That amount was just over the cumulative total paid to 53% of their colleagues involved in criminal legal aid work over the same period. Those are the facts of the matter, and people can make of those facts what they wish.”
“As the proposed approach is a matter of ongoing discussion with the CBA membership, it would not be appropriate to elaborate further at this stage. I will, however, keep the Chamber updated.”
“I am, of course, working with them to identify any further assistance that could usefully be provided to victims and witnesses while we continue to strive to end the damaging service withdrawal. To that end, I held a constructive meeting with CBA representatives again last week, and I have proposed a means of navigating the impasse that builds on the work that has been done to date by the working group and that, I believe, would allow the CBA's concerns to be addressed at pace and fulfil our requirements to appropriately manage public money. Crucially, the proposed approach will also involve the Solicitors' Criminal Bar Association, which has remained engaged and committed to the agreed process, and which has continued to deliver services to its clients throughout.”
“With your permission, Mr Speaker, I wish to address questions 2, 8 and 12 together, as they speak to the same issue. <BR /> <BR />As I previously advised the House, engagement to resolve the CBA's concerns has been ongoing since before the outset of its action in November 2024. I remain committed to continuing constructive dialogue. My focus very much remains on solving the dispute in the interests of victims and witnesses, who are suffering very real harm as a result of service withdrawal. That impact cannot be overstated. <BR /> <BR />Last week, I had the opportunity to meet representatives of some of the organisations that are providing support to those who are affected. I commend those organisations again for their efforts to provide information, advice and support.”
“<BR /> <BR />When it comes to sensationalist reporting on such issues, of course people will say that they want to see that eliminated. Ultimately, however, there is the question of public interest. People want to know what is happening in our prisons and they want to have confidence in the system. Let us be clear: people would not be serving lengthy sentences in prison that would require pre-release testing had they not committed pretty serious offences in the first place.”
“It is often the case that victims no longer want to receive information about the perpetrator of a crime. They do not want contact with the justice system after the case has concluded; they want to put it behind them and move on. However, others may rightly want to be kept apprised of what is happening with a particular prisoner, especially when it comes to release, in order that they can ensure that there are no shocks if they are walking down the high street in their local town and bump into the person, who is there without their knowledge. Each victim can make that balanced decision. I want to make sure that, when victims register with that scheme, our system is as robust as possible. That work is ongoing in the Department.”
“That is a very important point. There will always be those who will fail pre-release testing, but they are not the majority of prisoners who go through the system, most of whom take the opportunity for rehabilitation seriously and actually want to change their conduct and behaviour. It is the role of the Prison Service to do that. We do so, however, recognising that it is an incredibly sensitive issue, particularly for victims of crime. <BR /> <BR />A number of Members will be aware of the victims' information scheme. That is being reviewed because we have, in recent days, had highlighted to us some failures of that system in particular cases. I have asked that a further review of that system be undertaken. As things stand, victims are required to register for that service.”
“At every stage of the process, the level of risk that they present is kept under constant review. Indeed, those who fail at any stage of pre-release testing are brought back into custody, as would be the case normally, and suffer the consequences of the failure that may be appropriate, whether that be a further trial or under prison rules. They then go before the Parole Commissioners again to seek advice as to how to proceed.”
“When the Parole Commissioners make recommendations on an individual prisoner, the Prison Service will fully risk assess that person and begin work to prepare them for release and reintegration into society. The risk-assessment tool used is primarily the assessment case management and evaluation (ACE) system, which will be carried out by the Probation Board for Northern Ireland. A multi-agency case conference will also consider all relevant information, with subject experts invited as required. <BR /> <BR />There is no presumption in favour of granting leave at the expense of the primary consideration, which is the protection of the public. Prisoners are initially tested under the supervision of prison staff, progressing to periods of unaccompanied release before, potentially, progressing to living and working in the community.”
“Therefore, it is not at odds with the Life Sentences Order because that is about permanent release into the community, as opposed to temporary periods of release while someone still remains in a custodial environment.”
“The Life Sentences Order refers to permanent release back into the community at the end of a sentence. Therefore, no one is permanently released from prison until they have served their tariff or their sentence, depending on the nature of the sentence. However, rule 27 provides the Prison Service with the opportunity for those who are still serving their tariff and still serving their sentence to have short periods of release. Reasons for that include compassionate, health and other grounds, for which those short, temporary periods of release into the community are possible for the protection and enhancement of their rehabilitation.”
“In fact, it has led to a much-less-safe prison environment.”
“As the Member will know, a life sentence in Northern Ireland means a life sentence. However, that sentence does not have to be served solely in custody. Any life sentence prisoner who is released when their tariff has been served, and that tariff is set by a member of the independent judiciary, can be recalled to prison at any time should they breach the conditions of their licence or pose such a risk as to make those in charge of their supervision believe that they cannot be managed in the community. <BR /> <BR />The idea that simply containing people in prison for life is the solution to violent crime is debunked by the American system, where the safety of the public is not improved by people often receiving multiple and consecutive life sentences with no hope of any rehabilitation.”
“That work makes Northern Ireland safer and reduces the number of crime victims. Pre-release testing is an important part of rehabilitation and has been consistently endorsed by independent inspectors. Most prisoners go through the various stages of pre-release testing successfully and reintegrate into the community. Those prisoners are much less likely to reoffend and create more victims, so pre-release testing is and will remain an essential part of rehabilitation.”
“The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) does not comment on individual prisoners or their management. NIPS does not operate a Christmas home leave scheme, as is the case in some other jurisdictions. However, eligible prisoners who are already engaged in pre-release testing may be approved for temporary release as part of that process, which coincides with the Christmas period. Each individual is the subject of a comprehensive multi-agency risk assessment prior to approval of any period of temporary release, and all those released temporarily coinciding with the Christmas 2025 period returned to custody without incident. <BR /> <BR />The Prison Service is responsible for helping prisoners to rehabilitate so that they can return to the community and avoid reoffending.”
“Those are the people who, through the programme of legal aid reform, I am trying to ensure can access legal aid. The strike is not about them; it is about what the barristers get paid. It is about what goes into their bank accounts at the end of the month; it is not about those who need legal aid not being able to get it. If it were, we would be having a very different conversation.”
“Had the Member been listening earlier, he would have heard me answer that question. The fees and hourly rates for people who do government work are lower. If they want to go to hourly rates for legal aid cases, I can assure the Member that there will be major savings. If they want to work for those hourly rates in legal aid cases, I am up for that. I would be quite happy to go down that route, but that has been discounted by the CBA. <BR /> <BR />The Member has a particular political perspective, but, with all due respect, at no point have I heard the CBA raising concerns that poor people cannot afford justice. I have heard the CBA complaining about its own plight, but not about poor people not being able to afford justice. That is my responsibility and focus.”
“The nature of the business that the Bar does and the cases that it takes has changed, and, in that time, the fees have also changed. Some have gone up, and some have gone down. There will be areas of work that are more lucrative for members of the Bar and areas of work that are less lucrative. In applying the uplift across all factions of the Bar and across every part of the system, I have tried to ensure that the whole system is viable and that everyone is fairly remunerated. The notion that we can unpick the negotiations back to 2005 is not just illogical but undermines the call for a mediated settlement, because it would be unpicking a mediated settlement that dates back 10 years.”
“The 16% uplift that I applied retrospectively to 1 December 2024 was not applied to rates from 2005. It was applied to rates that were agreed in the mediation with the criminal Bar in 2016. People are saying to me, "Go into mediation with the criminal Bar". David Ford did that. He went into mediation and they agreed a fee structure, and now the Bar wants to unpick that and go back to 2005 when devolution had not even happened. It wants me to apply an uplift based on a 2005 fee structure that no longer exists and has no bearing on reality as of today. I applied the 16% uplift on the basis that Judge Burgess asked for it, which was that it would be applied from the 2016 fees. <BR /> <BR />You cannot compare apples and oranges.”
“I have done everything that it asked me to do that I can do. <BR /> <BR />Therefore, with respect, I do not think that this is about relationships between me and the Bar, but perhaps the fact that, only days after setting out those commitments to me, the entire criminal Bar committee resigned en masse and was replaced by another group that then signed up to the road map and called for this action says more about relationships within the Bar than it does about relationships between the Bar and me. I want to work with the criminal Bar, and I want to deliver for victims. That is my job, and that is what I am focused on doing.”
“Whilst the Member may wish to make judgements about the breakdown in relationships, I sat in that room and we had a very cordial meeting at which promises were made and undertakings were given on my part to deliver the fee uplift in January and ensure that it was backdated and also to meet quarterly with the working group, if that would aid progress. I was given reciprocal undertakings that people would go away and spend the month developing the evidence base that is needed for the refresher pilot, but that did not happen. Mediation will work only if both parties are fully engaged in delivering the resolution, and, as we stand here today, there is no remaining impediment to the criminal Bar returning to full service. Every single ask that it had regarding the partial withdrawal of service has been met.”
“She suggested mediation as an option in trying to resolve this dispute, and she did so for good reasons, which I have now laid out, I think, three times during this conversation with Members. I do not believe that mediation would take us any further than the current process. Bear in mind that, four days before this escalation was announced, everyone agreed that Judge Burgess's working group was the way to resolve all the outstanding issues and that they would engage fully with that. A month before, they sat in a room with me.”
“First, I have not done more than an hour, because you only get an hour for a statement, so that is incorrect. Secondly, I am not litigating anything. I am doing my duty to keep Members of the Chamber apprised of important issues affecting my Department. That is my duty. Had I not come today, somebody would no doubt have submitted a question for urgent oral answer and then claimed that I had to be dragged here to give Members the information. I have come voluntarily to update Members, as is my responsibility, and I will take no criticism for doing so. <BR /> <BR />When it comes to mediation, to be clear, there is no slight on the Lady Chief Justice. She did not recommend mediation.”