Justice Minister, Naomi Long, has welcomed the findings of an independent review of domestic abuse legislation aimed at holding perpetrators to account.

The Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) have published its review of the effectiveness of part one of the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021 (The Act).

Minister Long has said that the Department of Justice (DoJ) and Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) will take forward four of the report's 11 recommendations.

Minister Long said: "I welcome the comprehensive report, which is largely positive in terms of the first two years since the Act became operational.

"Following the implementation of the Act there was a 3% increase in the number of domestic abuse crimes recorded in 2022-23. Whilst 22,343 domestic abuse crimes in one year is still too high, the figures indicate the legislation is having an effect."

The Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (NI) 2021 came into effect in February 2022. The Department has now commenced work on advancing the relevant recommendations contained within Criminal Justice Inspection's report.

Concluding, the Minister said: "We will continue to work with criminal justice partners and stakeholders to raise further awareness of the domestic abuse offence. As the figures show, too many women, men and children continue to experience patterns of abusive behaviour including physical, emotional and financial abuse, therefore it is crucial we utilise the legislation to hold perpetrators to account."