Motion: Independent Review of all deaths with potential issues around domestic violence

“This Council calls on the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to instigate an independent, strategic review of the handling of all deaths in which there were established or potential issues around domestic violence and in particular those which were not investigated or treated as murder, or death was deemed to be from suicide or accidental injury.

This review should determine all aspects of each case including decisions taken by senior officers and explanations for same, and if all procedures and protocols were fully adhered to and all avenues of investigation exhausted.

In addition this council calls on the Chief Constable to establish a mechanism whereby officers of any rank can raise concerns as to the circumstances and investigations of such deaths and indicate if they are being overruled and/or ordered by superiors not to pursue these cases.

Further, this council calls on all Health and Social Care Trusts to either expand “Whistleblower” Policies or create a separate, similar channel for all treating staff to voice concerns on the presentation of victims, with support for staff in alerting the Police Service of Northern Ireland and ensuring said concerns are fully taken on board and appropriately documented.

This motion should also be shared with the Minister for Justice, the Police Ombudsman, the Policing Board, the Commissioner for Human Rights and all district councils with a view to adopting the requests/recommendations contained therein”