Sentencing Bill introduced to the NI Assembly

New legislation which will bring a raft of changes to sentencing in Northern Ireland has been introduced to the Assembly.

The Sentencing Bill, which is being brought forward by the Department of Justice, will deliver more stringent sentences for a range of offences.

Justice Minister Naomi Long said: “Today is an important day for victims; legislation that will make a significant difference to sentencing policy is one step closer to coming into force.

“Victims of crime, and their families and representatives, have been integral to the development of this Bill.

“We have listened to the concerns they raised and we have responded.

“With levels of racially motivated hate crime in Northern Ireland at record levels, the Bill will make key changes to how we prosecute such offences.

"I am looking forward to continuing to work with all those with an interest in sentencing policy as this Bill proceeds through the Assembly.”

The Bill will increase the maximum penalty for causing death, or serious injury by dangerous driving or careless driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs, from 14 years to 20 years.

It will also introduce a new offence and higher sentences for assaulting those providing a service to the public or performing a public duty.

The Bill will also create ‘Charlotte's Law', which aims to reduce the trauma experienced by families of murder victims in so called ‘no body' cases.

Charlotte's Law will see the creation of a statutory aggravator for failure to disclose the location of victims' remains and new sentence reductions for post-sentence disclosures.

It will also introduce provisions equivalent to Helen's Law, requiring Parole Commissioners to consider failure to disclose the location of victims' remains in release decisions.

Drawing on a review of hate crime legislation led by Judge Desmond Marrinan, the Bill will also help victims of hate crime by modernising hate crime laws in Northern Ireland.

Ross Moorlock, Brake CEO, said: “Road deaths and injuries are devastating for everyone involved, and we welcome robust and fair sentencing for any road user who kills or harms through reckless behaviour. We welcome these changes, which reflect the seriousness of the crimes.

“At Brake, we believe that every road crash is preventable and we know the solutions that prevent road death and injury. Hopefully these new tougher sentences will help deter people from driving too fast, driving dangerously, and driving when they have been drinking alcohol or taking drugs."

Glyn Roberts, Chief Executive of Retail NI, has also welcomed the introduction of the Bill.

“This has been a long-term policy priority for us and we hope that these new laws will help to deter criminals and to protect our members staff," he said. 

Notes to editors:

1. The Bill will:
   • Set the principles of sentencing as proportionality, fairness and transparency; and the purposes of sentencing as punishment, protection of the public (including victims of crime), deterrence, rehabilitation and reparation;
   • Define and require the courts to have regard to sentencing guidance;
   • Enable the courts to include community requirements to make suspended sentences more tailored and impactful;
   • Set statutory starting points for life sentence tariffs for murder:15 years as the starting point where there are no significant aggravating features; and 20 years for the worst cases;
   • Make provision in NI legislation for unduly lenient sentences (rather than current UK-wide Act) with the change that current arrangements will be extended to all Crown Court sentences;
   • Provide for failure to disclose information about victims' remains (Charlotte's Law): whereby a killer's sentence will be increased to reflect their failure to disclose, providing for a proportionate reduction in that increase if a subsequent disclosure is made;
   • Introduce provision equivalent to Helen's Law , requiring the Parole Commissioners to take failure to disclose into account when considering a prisoner's release on licence;
   • Introduce a statutory aggravator model for hate crime where the victim belongs or is assumed to belong to a “racial group”; a “religious group”; a “sexual orientation group”; or a “disability group”;
   • Introduce a vulnerable victim aggravator, where the offender knows or ought reasonably to have known the victim was vulnerable;
   • Create a new offence of assaulting a person delivering a public service, performing a public duty or providing a service to the public, or a person assisting such a person;
   • Increase the maximum penalty for offences causing death or serious injury by driving;
   • Increase the current maximum sentences and minimum disqualification periods for a range of ‘causing death by driving' offences.  Most significantly it increases the higher maximum penalties from 14 to 20 years;
   • Introduce a discretionary life sentence for repeat offenders; and
   • Make provision so that driving disqualification periods will normally be served after release from prison.
2. The Bill will be introduced in the next few weeks as soon as Assembly pre-introduction formalities have been completed.
3. The Department launched a separate review of sentencing in January to inform future legislative proposals: Long announces sentencing review | Department of Justice