Written answers

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

Department of Justice, Equality and Defence

Proposed Legislation

7:00 pm

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 144: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the timeframe in which he will introduce consolidated and reformed domestic violence legislation to address all aspects of domestic violence, threatened violence and intimidation, in a way that provides protection to victims; and if he will include a review of all court procedures. [28933/11]

Photo of Alan ShatterAlan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The commitment in the Programme for Government is to introduce consolidated and reformed domestic violence legislation to address all aspects of domestic violence, threatened violence and intimidation, in a way that provides protection to victims. The commitment will be progressed as soon as possible having regard to the need for consultations and the need to dispose of urgent legislative matters in my Department under the EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support for the State.

The Deputy will appreciate that some significant reforms have been introduced over the last two years. The Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 allows civil partners to apply for a safety order or a barring order subject to the same rules as a spouse. Further reforms were introduced by me in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011. That Act removed the minimum required period of cohabitation before one of a cohabiting couple may apply for a safety order (previously, the applicant was required to have resided with the respondent for at least six of the previous twelve months), gave equal access to the protections of the Domestic Violence Act to opposite-sex and same-sex couples (the relevant provision previously referred only to couples "living together as husband and wife"); and widened the scope of section 2, which specifies who may apply for a safety order, to enable a person to obtain a safety order against a person with whom they have a child in common.

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