Press release
Minister Flanagan announces further progress in Istanbul Convention ratification preparations
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, has announced further progress on Ireland’s implementation of the Istanbul Convention. Last night, he introduced the Criminal Law (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction) Bill 2018 to the Seanad and thanked Senators for the warm welcome the Bill received.
The Minister said:
"This Bill is significant for two main reasons. It is the last piece of the legislative jigsaw required to enable Ireland to ratify the Istanbul Convention on combating violence against women and domestic violence. The majority of the actions necessary are contained in the Domestic Violence Act which passed earlier this year.
"Secondly, this legislation, when enacted, will enable Ireland to prosecute violent crimes committed abroad by Irish citizens and residents in certain states. It is anticipated that this power will be rarely invoked but it is an important fall back mechanism for countries that have ratified the Convention."
The Minister noted that while the Convention is primarily concerned about violence against women, for equality reasons Ireland has included in the legislation measures to address violence against men.
Ireland signed the Istanbul Convention in 2015. The government immediately put an action plan in place to lead to ratification and these actions were later incorporated into the Second National Strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
Actions included:
In terms of legislation, the government has enacted:
The early passage of the Criminal Law (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction) Bill 2018 will allow for ratification of the Istanbul Convention in early 2019. Minister Flanagan has said he looks forward to all party support for this measure and he will endeavour to ensure it is enacted without delay. The Minister said he wants to send a strong message that this government takes violence against women and domestic violence very seriously and that we will have robust laws in place to tackle these issues.
ENDS