Prosecutions at courts and case processing time for domestic abuse related cases dealt with in 2024-25 published today
Date published:
The Department of Justice has published the official statistics publication ‘The Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021 – Prosecutions at courts and case processing time for domestic abuse related cases dealt with in 2024-25’.
This bulletin presents information on prosecutions and convictions for domestic abuse (DA) related criminal cases dealt with at courts in Northern Ireland for the financial year 2024-25, as well as out of court disposals completed within the same period. Information on case processing times for such cases is also provided. Cases included in this publication are those relating to the DA offence or any offence aggravated by reason of involving DA as laid out in The Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021.
KEY FINDINGS
- In 2024-25, there were 2,501 cases dealt with at courts where there was an offence prosecuted under the Act. This was down 8.3% from 2,728 cases dealt with in 2023-24.
- In 2024-25, 56.3% of cases with an offence prosecuted under the Act resulted in a conviction (1,408 out of 2,501). This conviction rate was slightly higher than the 55.5% observed for cases dealt with in 2023-24 (1,515 out of 2,728). Additionally, in 2024-25, 7 DA offences under the Act were resolved through out-of-court disposals.
- Of the 438 cases with the new DA offence dealt with at court in 2024-25, 211 resulted in convictions. Of the 2,404 cases with offences with the statutory aggravator (Section 15), 1,366 resulted in a conviction.
- In 2024-25, there were 21 convictions in cases with an offence having a child related aggravator attached (under Section 8 or Section 9 of the Act), with the aggravator successfully proven in 6 of those cases. In comparison, 2023-24 saw 17 such convictions, with the aggravator proven in 8 cases.
- In 2024-25, 95.4% of cases (2,386) were handled in magistrates’ courts, a slight decrease from 96.6% (2,635) in 2023-24.
- In 2024-25, the vast majority of those convicted in cases with an offence under the Act were male - 90.8% (1,278 out of 1,408).
- People aged 30 to 39 made up the largest proportion of those convicted in cases with an offence under the Act - 36.8% (518 individuals). This was the same in 2023-24 when 37.9% (574) convictions were for people in that age group.
- In 2024-25, where the case included an offence with the statutory DA aggravator (Section 15), VAP was the main offence category in the majority of cases - accounting for 61.9% (829 cases) and cases where the main offence was Criminal Damage & Arson made up 17.8% (239 cases).
- Across all courts, custodial sentences were the main outcome in 31.7% of convictions (446 cases) in 2024-25, compared to 30.6% (463 cases) in 2023-24. At the Crown Court level, custodial outcomes were even more common - 71.0% (66 cases out of 93) in 2024-25, and 72.0% (59) for cases dealt with in 2023-24.
- In 2024-25, sentences were enhanced in 455 cases following convictions for cases with offences under the Act. In 2023-24, this figure was 170.
- Special measures were implemented in 229 DA related cases under the Act in 2024-25, compared to 206 cases in 2023-24.
Notes to editors:
- The Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021 (the Act) created a new domestic abuse offence which criminalises a course of abusive behaviour. The Act, which came into operation on 21 February 2022, also introduced a statutory aggravator, which can be applied to any other offence. The intention of this bulletin is to report on cases with offences under the Act, providing information on prosecutions and convictions for the financial year 2024/25 by court type; gender; age; disposal and offence category. Out of court disposals and case processing times for cases with offences under the Act are also reported.
2. The data used in this bulletin were taken from the Causeway Data Sharing Mechanism (DSM1). Causeway is an interconnected information system, launched as a joint undertaking by the Criminal Justice Organisations (CJOs) in Northern Ireland.
3. The prosecutions and convictions figures reported in this bulletin relate to cases disposed at courts where at least one of the offences prosecuted was an offence under the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021. Also included are figures for cases dealt with by way of out of court disposal in the year specified.
4. The case processing time figures reported in this bulletin do not include cases relating to breaches of court orders imposed previously, as they relate to a previous offence and have not proceeded through the various stages in the criminal justice process in the same way that cases relating to other offences may have. Similarly, cases disposed of through an out of court disposal, or which do not reach the end of the full court process, do not go through the standard stages of the court system and, as such, are not directly comparable with cases that have gone through the judicial system. They have therefore not been included in the case processing time figures.
5. Official Statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs and are produced free from any political interference. They are also subject to restrictions in terms of pre-release access. Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).
6. OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
7. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by Email or via the OSR website.
8. The bulletin will be available in PDF format from either the publication section of this website or Analytical Services Group, Financial Services Division, Block C, Castle Buildings, Stormont Estate, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast BT4 3SG, Email
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