Cross-community vote

The Petition of Concern is a mechanism whereby 30 MLAs can petition the Assembly requiring a matter to be passed on a cross-community rather than a simple majority basis. Under the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, it is one of the 'safeguards' in Strand One as a mechanism "to ensure key decisions [in the Assembly] are taken on cross-community basis". The requirement to enable a Petition of Concern is given effect in the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and in the Assembly's standing orders.

— Fourth Report on the Use of the Petition of Concern Mechanism in the Northern Ireland Assembly[6]

Votes in the assembly do not ordinarily require cross-community support. However, if a "petition of concern" is raised successfully about proposed legislation or executive action, the speaker must call a cross-community vote. For a petition to be raised successfully, at least 30 of the 90 members from at least two parties (counting all independent signers of a petition of concern who were elected as independents as members from different parties) must sign the petition.[7]

In a cross-community vote, the majority of unionists' and the majority of nationalists' votes are each required to pass a motion put to the assembly.[7] By October 2019, petitions of concern had been tabled 159 times since 1998; they have been used on same-sex marriage, abortion and censure of politicians.[8]

Section 42 of the 1998 Act (as amended by the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Act 2022) declares that

(6)Standing orders must—

(a) make provision with respect to the procedure to be followed in presenting and confirming a petition under this section (which may include provision specifying a minimum period between the presentation of the petition and the time when the vote on the matter to which it relates would take place if not postponed by the petition);
(b) provide that the matter to which a petition under this section relates may be referred, in accordance with paragraphs 11 and 13 of Strand One of the Belfast Agreement, to the committee established under section 13(3)(a);
(c) specify further matters that may not be the subject of a petition under this section, for the purposes of fully implementing paragraph 2.2.4 of Annex B of Part 2 of The New Decade, New Approach Deal;

(d) make provision for such steps to be taken during the consideration period as may be necessary for the purposes of fully implementing paragraph 2.2.7 of Annex B of Part 2 of The New Decade, New Approach Deal.[7]

Arising from the St Andrews Agreement, an "Assembly and Executive Review Committee" was set up. Among its Terms of Reference, the committee was to consider "provisions for voting on an Ad Hoc Committee on Conformity with Equality Requirements prior to the vote on a Petition of Concern." It also "considered the possibilities of restricting Petition of Concern to certain key areas, changing the 30 MLA threshold, and alternatives to Petitions of Concern (e.g. a weighted majority vote). There was no consensus on any of the issues.".[9]

In January 2020, negotiations between Northern Ireland's political parties and with the UK Government led to the New Decade, New Approach agreement, in which the parties agreed to greater restraint in their use of the Petition mechanism and to raise the threshold for its use.[6] This agreement was set in law through the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Act 2022.

Note: These figures include the assumed designation of the Speaker who, having a non-partisan role, does not officially declare a designation. Note also the effect of the Reduction of Numbers Act, which partly accounts for the significant changes in 2017.