On 3^rd November 2021, our Family Law Partner Claire Edgar was invited to present a talk at this year’s Domestic Abuse Conference.

The Conference was convened by the Law Society of NI, and was a multi-disciplinary event specifically looking at the new offence of Coercive Control in Northern Ireland.  A range of individuals across a variety of professions were asked to speak at the event including representatives from the Judiciary, the Attorney General’s Office and Women’s Aid.

Claire spoke about the recent developments in case law surrounding domestic abuse including the judgements of JR118 No [2020] NIQB 54 which addressed generally the Court’s ability to extend Non Molestation Orders and JR131 and William Clifford (Leave Stage) and In the matter of Decisions of the Domestic Proceedings Court [2021] NIQB 2 which dealt with adjournments of Non Molestation Order applications pending criminal trial.

Claire comments:-

“I was delighted to be invited to speak at this year’s Domestic Abuse Conference.   Despite dealing with a global pandemic and several periods of national lockdown over the last 18 months, it is fair to say that efforts have been made by lawyers, the Judiciary and legislature alike to respectively challenge, address and progress the law surrounding domestic abuse in NI.  As a family practitioner, I personally have welcomed the challenges made to our law in this area at a time when protection seems to have been most needed. 

However, I do feel there is more work to be done.  I hope that lawyers working in this field will continue to drive the charge on progressing the law surrounding protection from domestic violence and encourage and support victims to stand up against their perpetrator and free themselves from abusive behaviour.

It is important that we fiercely advocate on behalf of victims for the protection that they need and deserve and that we continue to challenge our Courts on any failure to provide this protection. I hope that the new legislation is utilised by the legal profession to push for protection in cases where we may have previously been reticent to bring applications.”

For advice and assistance on issues surrounding domestic abuse, contact Claire by email on cedgar@fhanna.co.uk or by telephone on 028 9024 3901