Restorative Justice Looking Back to the Future
Green Room, The Law SocietyBlackhallPlace Dublin 7
Tuesday 16thOctober 2007
Aideen McLaughlin
Assistant Director
Restorative Justice – The challenges for a retributive system
• Introduction – Brief reminder of where we have come from
• The process – from the early phase to building confidence
• How to achieve success
• Where are we now?
• Challenges for the future
Where have we come from?
• Criminal Justice Review recommended greater involvement of victims in CJS
• Development of specific legislation Justice NI Order 2002
• Shift from tariff system to restorative – greater involvement of key stakeholders namely victims and young people
Challenges – the early days
• Inclusion of all key stakeholders
• Phasing a roll-out of services
• Working with resistance – building confidence through addressing apathy, enlisting research, and transparency, championing ethos of restorative justice
• Engaging with local communities
Building Confidence
• Engaging young people and victims in this process
• Proportionality
• Ensuring dedicated, committed staff who have a belief in restorative practices
• Accredited training
• Setting targets – young person and victim attendance rates
Building confidence contd…
• Bespoke plans – tailored to needs of victim and young person
• Post-conference monitoring – keeping young people to their word
• Keeping our word – non-compliance and breach
• Working with the more serious or persistent young person who has offended
Achieving success
• Stakeholder confidence – serious referrals• Young person (offender) participation• Victim participation and satisfaction• No delay• Sentencers making Orders• Further research• CJ inspection• Re-offending
Where are we now?
• Over 3,000 referrals
• Throughout NI since December 2006
• Established partnerships working with PSNI, PPS Courts and Communities
• 13,000 people involved in Conferences
• Achieving victim attendance targets
• Achieving satisfaction – victims and young people
• Sexual offending
• Serious assaults
• Offences where the Court considers need to protect the public
Challenges for the future
• Move from passive to active responsibility
• Celebrate achievement (Maruna 2007)
• Secure diverse community reparation
• Work to achieve reintegration for young person and satisfaction for victim
• Maintain stakeholder satisfaction
• Engaging with persistent offenders
www.youthjusticeagency.gov.uk