Major reforms to Northern Ireland’s sentencing laws are set to come before the Assembly within weeks, including new measures to help families of murder victims whose remains have never been recovered. The Sentencing Bill, unveiled by Justice Minister Naomi Long on 12 February 2026, represents one of the most significant overhauls of criminal justice policy in recent years, encompassing tougher penalties for dangerous drivers, new protections for public service workers, and the creation of “Charlotte’s Law” to address so-called “no body” cases.
The legislation comes just one month after the Department of Justice launched a separate, broader review of sentencing policy, and follows years of campaigning by families including those of Charlotte Murray and Lisa Dorrian, whose loved ones were murdered but whose bodies were never found.
Charlotte’s Law: Incentives for Disclosure
Central to the Bill is Charlotte’s Law, named after Charlotte Murray, a 34-year-old woman from County Tyrone who was murdered by her former partner Johnny Miller in 2012. Despite Miller’s conviction in 2019 and a 16-year minimum tariff, he has never disclosed the location of her remains, leaving her family without a grave to visit.
The new provisions will create a statutory aggravating factor for killers who fail to disclose the location of their victims’ remains, effectively increasing sentences for non-cooperation. However, the Bill also introduces a mechanism for sentence reduction if offenders make post-sentence disclosures, designed to incentivise cooperation even after conviction. Additionally, the legislation will impose duties equivalent to England and Wales’s Helen’s Law, requiring Parole Commissioners to consider an offender’s failure to reveal remains when making release decisions.
Justice Minister Naomi Long, who met with victims’ families during the drafting process, said:
“This is a significant step in bringing forward this important piece of legislation, which will have a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people across Northern Ireland.
“In developing this Bill, I have met and listened to a range of victims and stakeholder organisations. Their voices have been crucial and as we move closer to introducing the Sentencing Bill, I want to thank them for their invaluable contribution to this process.”
Tougher Penalties for Dangerous Driving
The Bill will increase the maximum penalty for causing death or serious injury by dangerous driving, or by careless driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs, from 14 years to 20 years. This change stops short of the life imprisonment maximum introduced in England and Wales for offences committed after 28 June 2022, but represents a substantial increase in the severity of sentences available to Northern Ireland courts.
The legislation also makes provision so that driving disqualification periods will normally be served after release from prison, ensuring offenders serve the full ban intended by the court.
Protecting Public Service Workers
A new offence will be created specifically targeting assaults on individuals delivering public services or performing public duties, carrying higher sentences than standard assault charges. This builds upon existing protections for police officers, fire and rescue personnel, and ambulance workers, extending coverage to a broader range of public servants.
The Bill also introduces a statutory aggravating factor for hate crimes where the victim belongs or is perceived to belong to a racial, religious, sexual orientation, or disability group. Notably, however, the legislation does not include transgender identity as a protected characteristic—a significant omission given recent debates at Stormont and the Minister’s previous indications that she sought to extend protections to transgender people facing hate crime.
Reforming Life Sentences and Appeals
The Bill establishes statutory starting points for life sentence tariffs in murder cases: 15 years where there are no significant aggravating features, and 20 years for the worst cases. This brings greater structure to tariff-setting while maintaining judicial discretion to adjust for aggravating or mitigating factors.
The legislation also transfers provisions for unduly lenient sentences into Northern Ireland-specific law rather than relying on UK-wide legislation. Currently, approximately two-thirds of Crown Court sentences fall within the scope of the scheme; the new Bill will extend this to cover all Crown Court sentences, allowing the Director of Public Prosecutions to refer any sentence considered unduly lenient to the Court of Appeal for review.
Other key provisions include:
- A discretionary life sentence for repeat offenders deemed dangerous to the public
- A statutory vulnerable victim aggravator where the offender knew or should have known of the victim’s vulnerability
- Enhanced community requirements for suspended sentences to make them more “tailored and impactful”
- Statutory principles of sentencing requiring proportionality, fairness, and transparency
Gaps and Unanswered Questions
While the Bill addresses long-standing campaign demands, several questions remain unanswered. The Department has not provided detail on how Charlotte’s Law will interact with historic cases from the Troubles involving the “Disappeared”—those victims of paramilitary violence whose remains are still missing—or whether it might complicate the work of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains.
Similarly, the legislation offers no assessment of prison capacity implications, despite introducing longer mandatory minimums and new discretionary life sentences. With nearly 80% of prisoners in Northern Ireland already repeat offenders, according to recent Assembly debates, the expansion of custodial sentences raises questions about rehabilitation resources and overcrowding.
The Bill’s timing—coming just weeks after a new sentencing review was launched in January 2026 to examine issues including serious sexual offences and environmental crime—also suggests potential overlap, with some areas possibly requiring further legislative attention before the current Assembly mandate ends in 2027.
Key questions for legislators to consider include:
- How will Charlotte’s Law apply to Troubles-related disappearances, and could it inadvertently discourage cooperation with existing legacy mechanisms?
- Will extending the unduly lenient sentence scheme to all Crown Court cases overwhelm the Court of Appeal, given the absolute 28-day referral window?
- What safeguards will ensure that sentence reductions for post-sentence disclosure under Charlotte’s Law do not undermine the principle of proportionality or cause further trauma to victims’ families?
- Why has transgender identity been excluded from the hate crime aggravator provisions, despite evidence of rising hate incidents?
- How will the justice system manage the increased prison population resulting from longer mandatory tariffs and new discretionary life sentences?
The Bill will be introduced in the coming weeks once Assembly pre-introduction formalities are completed. It will then face detailed scrutiny by the Justice Committee and the full Assembly, where amendments may be tabled regarding the establishment of a Sentencing Council for Northern Ireland—a proposal supported by some parties but opposed by the judiciary.