Committee for Justice

Minutes of Proceedings - Tuesday 22 September 2026

Senate Chamber, Parliament Buildings, Belfast

 

Present:

Paul Frew MLA (Chairperson)

Emma Sheerin MLA (Deputy Chairperson)

Doug Beattie MLA

Maurice Bradley MLA

Connie Egan MLA

Ciara Ferguson MLA

Aoife Finnegan MLA

Brian Kingston MLA

Patsy McGlone MLA

 

In Attendance:

Kathy O’Hanlon (Assembly Clerk)

Thomas McKillop (Senior Assistant Assembly Clerk)

Gareth Black (Assistant Assembly Clerk)

Danielle Saunders (Clerical Supervisor)

Aaron Pakenham (Clerical Officer)

 

The meeting commenced at 9:38am in public session.

 

Agreed: That the oral evidence session on the Criminal Justice (Sentencing etc) Bill with the Commissioner Designate for Victims of Crime and Victim Support will be recorded by Hansard.

 

1.  Apologies

There were no apologies.

 

2. Criminal Justice (Sentencing etc) Bill – Commissioner for Victims of Crime and Victim Support oral evidence

The following witnesses joined the meeting at 9.40am:

  • Geraldinne Hanna – Commissioner for Victims of Crime Designate
  • Janice Bunting - CEO, Victim Support NI

The witnesses provided oral evidence on the Criminal Justice (Sentencing etc) Bill.

Patsy McGlone joined the meeting at 9.49am.

Emma Sheerin joined the meeting at 9.54am.

The oral evidence was followed by a question-and-answer session.

Aoife Finnegan left the meeting at 10:24am.

Aoife Finnegan returned to the meeting at 11:06am.

During the evidence session, the witnesses agreed to provide the following:

  • Information on the evaluations conducted by Victim Support in relation to post-court support for victims;
  • Data or information in relation to trends in hate crime, including levels of non-reporting of such crimes; and
  • Views on whether Schedule 2 makes any provision for a custodial sentence if suspended sentence orders are breached.

The evidence session was recorded by Hansard.

The Chairperson thanked the witness and they left the meeting at 11.15pm.

 

3. Any Other Business

There was no other business.

 

4. Date, Time and Place of the next meeting

Members were advised that the next meeting will take place on Thursday 24 September at 2pm in Room 30, Parliament Buildings.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 11.16am.

 

Paul Frew MLA

Chairperson, Committee for Justice

29 September 2026