Justice Minister Issues Call For Evidence

Justice Minister Naomi Long has issued a Call for Evidence seeking information to support any need to further extend the law on abuse of position of trust offences.

Making the appeal, Minister Long said: "In the past year, I introduced legislation which strengthened the law on abuse of positions of trust. I remain fully committed to ensuring our children and young people are protected from harm and the risk of harm, and in particular that which comes from sexual offending.

"This Call for Evidence seeks evidence on whether the current law on abuse of position of trust should be extended beyond the new categories of sport and religion which I introduced as part of the Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022.

"During passage of these provisions in the Assembly, I committed to carry out a review to explore this area."

Naomi Long continued: "This legislation has been created to protect young people in particular situations where there is some element of dependency on an adult, combined with an element of vulnerability on the part of the young person and where there is an imbalance in power. In considering any extension, it is important to remember that young people have a lawful right to engage in sexual relations from the age of 16 and any protection provided in law must respect those rights.

"Any further change to the law must be sufficiently supported with sound and robust evidence to ensure a proportionate and balanced approach to protecting our young people can be taken.

"Where such an extension is supported by the evidence, my Department will not hesitate to legislate using the dedicated power within the Act which allows additional areas to be included without the need for primary legislation."

The Call for Evidence runs for eight weeks from 27 October to 22 December 2022.

Information on how to respond the Call for Evidence can be found at Abuse of Position of Trust Offences: Extension of the Law – A Call for Evidence | Department of Justice (justice-ni.gov.uk).