evidence: Gender based violence and violence in the home has increased steadily across the globe (Mital & Singh, 2020). NI has witnessed rising reported domestic abuse incidents year on year since 2004/5. Worringly, it has one of the highest rates of domestic abuse motivated femicide per capita, compared to the entirety of Western Europe (PSNI, 2022). The new Domestic Abuse Bill (DAFP) has introduced previously neglected criminalisation and litigative measures concerning aspects of domestic abuse, such as coercive control (DoJ, 2021). However, there is little research into the implementation of this new bill, either by tracking reported cases and/or exploring understandings of coercive control. Whilst Lagdon et al. (2022) found that public understanding of coercive control is lacking, there is limited research into understanding within statutory organisations and criminal justice authorities. This is significant given the ramifications miscomprehension may have on civil proceedings, and because coercive control is a risk factor for intimate partner homicide (Elliot, 2017).