Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to implement the EU Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
Karen Bradley
We are committed to ending Violence Against Women and Girls. The previous Government signed the Istanbul Convention (the Council Of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence) and this Government remains committed to ratifying it but have made it clear that we will not do so until we are absolutely satisfied that we fully comply with all articles but amendments to domestic law, to take extra-territorial jurisdiction over a range of offences (as required by Article 44), are necessary before the Convention can be ratified.
The Ministry of Justice is currently considering the approach to implementing the extra-territorial jurisdiction requirements in England and Wales and will seek to legislate when the approach is agreed and Parliamentary time allows. The Ministry of Justice will be consulting Ministers in the devolved administrations formally about whether legislative changes on extra-territorial jurisdiction in England and Wales should extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Convention applies to the whole of the UK so any changes necessary to the criminal law in Scotland and Northern Ireland prior to ratification are matters for the devolved administrations.
