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