Jacqui Durkin, the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland, has issued an urgent call for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to overhaul their approach to domestic abuse investigations.

Following the publication of the third annual review of the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021, the Chief Inspector expressed serious concern that children impacted by domestic abuse are frequently being overlooked. The Act was specifically designed to recognise the trauma of children who witness, hear, or are used to facilitate abuse, allowing judges to impose enhanced sentences through "child aggravators".

However, a review of 73 police and 76 prosecution files revealed that these aggravators are inconsistently identified and often missing entirely from legal proceedings.

Chief Inspector Jacqui Durkin stated: "The Act's clear intention was to recognise the trauma and impact of domestic abuse on all victims. It established a legal obligation to identify any child who was a victim of domestic abuse, or a child who saw, heard or was present when the abuse occurred or was used by a perpetrator to facilitate abuse at a victim. When the abuse is recognised as being heightened or 'aggravated', Judges can impose enhanced sentences when a perpetrator is convicted at Court. Inspectors found there was a reluctance among some Police Officers to engage with children during domestic abuse investigations and a lack of confidence in how to best obtain evidence from them or about them." The report found that while 16,025 referrals were made to schools via Operation Encompass, the actual application of child aggravators in court remains very low. Ms Durkin described the failure to adequately respond to children's experiences as a "fundamental weakness" and has recommended that the PSNI and PPS take corrective action within six months.



The review also raised significant concerns regarding the quality and consistency of training. Inspectors found that the amount of domestic abuse training provided to PSNI Student Officers was inadequate, and there was a notable gap in training for newly promoted Sergeants.

Ms Durkin added: "The current approach to training was not meeting the requirements of the Act and needs to be addressed. Investment in training needs to be evident in applied skills and outcomes. However, this Review found the provision of consistent and quality practice, including sustainable supervision and quality assurance, was impacted not only by resources but the ineffective application of the required skills."

Despite these criticisms, the Chief Inspector acknowledged that positive progress has been made in raising awareness of domestic abuse across the justice system. She noted the dedication of individual officers and prosecutors but emphasised that a lack of joined-up data makes it difficult to assess the true effectiveness of the system.

In her concluding remarks, Ms Durkin said: "By now the implementation of this Act and use of its powers should be embedded across the criminal justice system. While there is much more community awareness of domestic abuse, there is still much to be done to ensure the full impact of the Act is realised and it is used as intended to protect victims and their children and bring abusers to justice."