NI justice system facing 'intolerable pressures', Naomi Long says

The justice system in Northern Ireland is facing "intolerable pressures" according to Naomi Long.

Mrs Long, who is NI's justice minister, said "there can be no underestimating the pressure that the justice system faces".

NI's director of public of prosecutions said on Monday that delays in the justice system are unacceptable.

Stephen Herron said a budget increase is needed to address a backlog of cases.

Mrs Long told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster on Tuesday that she had been saying "since the last mandate that the justice system is under extraordinary pressure".

"We have been significantly underfunded relative to other departments now over the last 15 years," she added.

"If you look, for example, at the budget in the Department of Justice it has risen by 3% over the period that the Department of Health has risen by 70%.

"So there can be no underestimating the pressure that the justice system faces.

"We have managed to continue to do more with less, over the last number of years because of exceptionally good management by officials and justice partners, but it is without question that we are facing intolerable pressures in the system right now, which is why I have been meeting with the minister of finance on a number of occasions to really try to communicate this."

Geraldine Hanna, Victims of Crime Commissioner Designate for Northern Ireland, said that victims of crime were "feeling extremely let down".

"And for some of them, they have concerns about would they ever report a crime again; for me that is unacceptable," she said.

"[That is] partly because of the length of time, partly because of how they have experienced the system and unfortunately the longer you are in the system the more likely you are going to experience issues around communication and updates."

Mrs Long said it had been "recognised not just by me as the justice minister, but by the fiscal council and by the previous finance minister that justice had been historically underfunded".

"We have pressures now in the Department of Justice of around £444m, as a proportion of our budget that is over 40% of our baseline," she said.

"That can't simply be absorbed and just over £300m of that relates to pressures in policing.

"There does need to be a significant budget settlement for the Department of Justice in order to stabilise things and in order to ensure that when people need the justice system that they are able to access it."