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O'Mahony, David and Doak, Jonathan. Restorative Justice -- Is More Better?: The Experience of Police-Led Restorative Cautioning Pilots in Northern Ireland

Under the two programs, juveniles (under 17 years old) who committed an offense were diverted from formal prosecution through a formal caution under a restorative justice approach. Evaluation researchers conducted fieldwork from September 2000 to April 2001. All case files (n=1,861) handled by the juvenile liaison officers in the 2 areas over the duration of the project were reviewed. Attention was given to the types of cases that came to the attention of the liaison officers and how the cases were resolved, categorized as "no further police action," "advice and warning," "caution," or "prosecution." The conferences typically consisted of the officer inviting the juvenile to state in his/her own words what they had done to warrant police action. This was usually followed with a question about the youth's motivation for committing the offense. The facilitator would then inquire about the actual and potential consequences of the act for the victim (not present), the juvenile's family, and the juvenile himself/herself. The conference would result in a cautioning agreement that might include expression of remorse, agreement to pay for damage, a written apology to the victim, and agreement to perform certain duties or engage in prescribed behaviors. Evaluators conducted interviews with 29 participants, their parents, and their victims. All participants valued the philosophy underlying the programs and viewed their implementation as appropriate and effective; however, there were two major areas of concern identified by evaluators, i.e., the risk of "net-widening" (drawing offenders into police processing who would have previously received only a verbal caution or warning from police) and the lack of significant victim participation in the programs. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Gadd, Breidge. Making Peace in Northern Ireland.

My original intention was to come here and speak about the role of the terrorist ex-prisoners in reconciliation and restorative justice in Northern Ireland. I will do that, but given the events of September 11th I will shift my talk a bit to address the context that America is facing, and to share some of our own experience with terrorism. It seems to me that whenever there is any sort of threat to the state, the government of that country goes immediately to the adversarial mode: “We’ve got to win...We’ve got to beat somebody, and they’ve got to lose.” In Northern Ireland when the Troubles re-erupted again in 1968, the government went into the same mode and role of “we must defeat the terrorists,” and they saw the defeat of terrorism as the state winning and the terrorist losing. Just as the court system is based on the idea that someone must win and someone must lose, as the Judge [Merrigan] so eloquently pointed out, this discourages the offender from ever taking responsibility for what they have done. (excerpt)

Northern Ireland Office. Draft Protocol for Community-based Restorative Justice Schemes.

This paper recognises the finding of the Review of Criminal Justice that community-based restorative justice schemes (“schemes”) can have a role to play in dealing with the types of low-level crime that most commonly concern local communities. It seeks to establish a framework for relations between the criminal justice system and the community-based schemes by setting in place a Protocol for the operation of the schemes in line with the Review’s recommendations. That framework is based on schemes’ compliance with the rule of law and full cooperation with statutory agencies, including the police, in implementing this Protocol. (excerpt)

Martin, Margaret E. Restoring Justice Through Community Policing: The Northern Ireland Case.

After describing the theory, practice, and values of restorative justice, this article examines them in relation to community policing ideology and practice under the police reforms in Northern Ireland. Central to the ideals of restorative justice are the accountability of offenders in consultation with their victims in order to repair the harms done to the victims and to the community, followed by correction of offender behaviors in order to prevent future harms. In a jurisdiction where conflict among residents and between residents and police has been intense, these restorative justice principles are relevant. Police and citizens must consult with one another in efforts to remedy harms, and reform behaviors so as to change the quality of future interactions. Community policing has been promoted as reflective of the democratic principles of accountability, transparency, and sensitivity to the security needs of all community residents. In examining the links between community policing and restorative justice, this article discusses the expressed goals or ideology of each paradigm, the values promoted, and the practices and processes used. By conducting this discussion in the context of Northern Ireland's police reforms, which have incorporated the values of community policing, this article shows how community policing can heal previous conflicts through the application of restorative justice principles, i.e., attention to addressing the harms suffered by all citizens while listening to the community's complaints about where the police have failed to address various public safety needs, followed by the formulation of new behaviors in cooperative actions between police and the community to ensure public safety. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

McEvoy, Kieran and Mika, Harry. Punishment, Policing and Praxis: Restorative Justice and Non-Violent Alternatives to ParaMilitary Punishments in Northern Ireland

During the most recent three decades of conflict in Northern Ireland, the linitations of the Royal Ulster Cibstabulary's (RUC) policing of local working class communities has seen the parallel evolution of violent paramilitary systems of 'punishment attacks' and banishments. This paper explores the factors which underpin such punishment. It considers the relationship to the formal justice system and offers a critical analysis of the potential for Restorative Justice Theory and practice to provide non-violent community based alternatives to such violent punishments.

Healing Through Remembering Project. The Report of the Healing Through Remembering Project. June 2002.

In the late 1990s Victim Support Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders jointly began a process that led to the establishment of the Healing Through Remembering Project in the fall of 2001. The primary purpose of the Healing Through Remembering Project was to identify and document possible mechanisms and options for how remembering should occur so that healing could take place for all people affected by the conflict in Northern Ireland. The project was based on the view that addressing the past through remembering – while a complex, difficult, and long-term task – is an important part of social and psychological healing in the context of conflict. Toward this end, the Project solicited submissions by individuals and organizations to provide a wide range of opinions and insights into remembering processes that could help to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict. This report on the Project’s work includes the following: an executive summary; background to the Project; the Project’s method and context; types of remembering processes; recommendations based on the work of the Project; and a number of relevant appendices.

Hall, Michael. Restoring relationships: a community exploration of anti-social behaviour, punishment beatings and restorative justice

For more than thirty years, Northern Ireland has endured much suffering and grief from political and sectarian violence. Michael Hall points out that the people and communities have also been afflicted by a long catalogue of mindless acts of anti-social behavior. Given problems connected with regular police forces in the context of the “Troubles,�? paramilitary organizations stepped in to police communities and establish political control. Means of enforcement included punishment beatings and shootings. In recent years, however, many have begun seeking alternatives to both government policing and courts and paramilitary systems of control. Restorative justice efforts have emerged at the community level in both Loyalist and Republican areas. This document presents dialogue and ideas from a community-based exploration – including parents, a clergyman, a local merchant, a youth worker, a police representative, workers from restorative justice projects, and young people – to address behavioral problems and potential solutions in Northern Ireland.

Hall, Michael. A journey towards healing: Reflections on a University of Minnesota programme of restorative justice and humanistic mediation

Michael Hall observes that a number of restorative justice schemes have been established in working-class communities in Northern Ireland in recent years. Some emerged as alternatives to punishment beatings and shootings meted out by paramilitary groups. Some arose with a broader aim of dealing with disputes between individuals, in families, and in neighborhoods. Members of the Seeds of Hope Project (based in Belfast, Strabane, and Dublin) participated in a training program in “Victim Sensitive Offender Dialogue�? at the University of Minnesota in June 2002. Based on work by Mark Umbreit, this is an approach characterized by a “humanistic mediation style.�? Following the training, the participants from Seeds of Hope Project gathered to discuss how to adapt what they had learned to Northern Ireland. This paper presents the questions and issues they discussed, with an aim of conveying the personal significance of their training to others and of exploring the potential of this approach in Northern Ireland.

Gormally, Brian. Community Restorative Justice -- a new bridge between state and people?

In Northern Ireland, then, community restorative justice projects have been an important part of the peace process. They have reduced the incidence of punishment violence, they have engaged ex-combatants in peaceful community activism, they have engaged thousands of people in practising justice in their neighbourhoods, they have reduced anti-social crime and they have spread the radical principles of restorative justice. They are now poised, assuming goodwill on all sides, to form, necessarily gradually and incrementally, a partnership with the statutory criminal justice system that will fully express the new social contract that must be the result of a genuine peace process. Is the Northern Ireland Office prepared to abandon its obstructive position and show the necessary goodwill? (Excerpt)

Gormally, Brian. Justice and the Aftermath of Conflict

The aftermath of conflict leaves a range of legal and political issues to be resolved that relate to justice. It appears to be common ground amongst many of those with practical experience and theoretical knowledge about peace processes and international law that some "just" closure is necessary before a conflict can be regarded as finally over. In this context, "justice" also tends to imply "truth" that is a full disclosure of all the "crimes" committed by combatants during the conflict. This idea is summed up in the phrase: "Before a new leaf can be turned, the old leaf must be read…" Unfortunately, there is no consensus, at least in Northern Ireland, on the character of the justice or the truth that may be appropriate to close the conflict. The fundamental problem is that there is no agreed legal interpretation of the nature of the conflict. Furthermore, in so far as the conflict was waged by the State within a certain legal framework, it is inconsistent with the reconciliatory measures appropriate to a peace process. We will elaborate on these points. (excerpt)

Healy, Julie and Gribben, Marie and McCann, Cathy and Gribben, Marie. School Restorative Conferencing: A positive approach to keeping young people in the school community

The primary aim of the School Restorative Conferencing (SRC) scheme, which opened as a pilot in 2000, is to provide a positive approach to school inclusion for all through a restorative justice model.The project works with schools in the Southern Education & Library Board area and is based in Barnardo's Diamond House Centre, Moy, County Tyrone. (excerpt)

Beckett, Helen and O'Mahony, David and Doak, Jonathan and O'Mahony, David and Campbell, Catriona and O'Mahony, David and Jackson, John and Campbell, Catriona and Doak, Jonathan and O'Mahony, David. Interim Evaluation of the Northern Ireland Youth Conferencing Scheme

This bulletin presents the interim findings of an evaluation of the recently introduced Northern Ireland youth conferencing initiative. The findings are based on research conducted by the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Queen's University, Belfast and focus on the functioning of the scheme in the early months of its operation, from its inception on the 1st December 2003 until the 31st August 2004. (excerpt)

O'Mahony, David and Campbell, Catriona. Mainstreaming Restorative Justice for Young Offenders through Youth Conferencing - the experience of Northern Ireland

The youth justice system in Northern Ireland is quite distinct and different to that in the rest of the United Kingdom or Ireland. It has also evolved considerably in the past ten to fifteen years and there have been very significant changes to its whole philosophy and operation as recently as 2003, with the introduction of a Youth Conferencing Service. The Conferencing Service now deals with young offenders using an approach based around the principles of restorative justice and the very process and structure of the system has changed to incorporate this new approach (detailed below). This paper looks at crime and how the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland deals with young people who have offended. It examines what is known about youth offending in general and looks specifically at a number of innovative approaches to criminal justice practice. The police response to youth offending is examined and their specialist teams of officers who deal with young offenders. The courts and sentencing are then looked at with attention being placed on the new arrangements for holding children in custody. The range of measures introduced following the Criminal Justice Review are then examined, and specifically the youth conferencing arrangements, which adopt a restorative justice model to deal with young offenders. The paper draws to a close with a critical overview of the major changes in our system of youth justice and the possible lessons that can be learnt from an international perspective. (excerpt)

O'Dwyer, Kieran. A program of restorative cautioning by the police in the Republic of Ireland

This paper presents an overview of findings from recent and current evaluations of restorative justice initiatives for young offenders in the Garda Sioch�na, the national police service of the Republic of Ireland. The restorative interventions are of two kinds, both of which occur under the Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme. The first involves the victim in formal cautions and offers the possibility of apology and reparation. The second provides for family conferences that operate in much the same way as restorative cautions but go on to discuss the offending behaviour in more depth and develop action plans to avoid a recurrence. The paper addresses the place of the initiatives in the Irish criminal justice system and presents relevant results from evaluations of 83 cases. Among the issues raised are: case selection (criteria, suitability, barriers to greater use), the voluntary nature of participation and the type of outcomes achieved. Author's abstract.

Stanton, Emily.. A Space In Your Heart You Never Knew You Had" : Qualitative Case-Study: The Impact and Experience of Young Adult.

This paper presents the findings of a research project by Ms. Stanton into the experiences and change processes in young adults in a reconciliation program at Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland. The research consisted of a qualitative, interview-based case study. In her paper, Ms. Stanton addresses the following subjects: background information on Corrymeela; reasons why people come to Corrymeela and what they experience in the reconciliation program; analysis of her findings into the nature of the personal impact of the program on participants; and challenges for participants when they leave Corrymeela and return to their local communities. An appendix lists the research questions used in the study.

Restorative Justice and Peace in Northern Ireland

It is well known that Northern Ireland is engaged in a peace process to recreate society after 30 years of violent internal conflict. Significant progress has been made: political violence has ended, negations between different factions have taken place as have fundamental changes in the system of governance. However, unresolved issues call into question the depth to which society itself has been transformed. This article - summarized from a paper by Brendan McAllister, director of Mediation Northern Ireland - provides an overview of the conflict, peace process and how restorative justice has become a litmus test for the working out of the peace process.

The Politicisation of Community Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland

Community restorative justice programmes in Northern Ireland developed in an atmosphere of conflict and distrust of formal justice institutions. Recently, their informal community base has been a point of contention as these programmes have sought governmental funding. Anna Eriksson, of the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice Queen’s University of Belfast, describes this politicisation of community restorative justice in Northern Ireland.

Community Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland – An Overview

Community restorative justice programmes developed in Northern Ireland as an alternative to punitive "self-policing" by the IRA and Loyalist groups. In this article, Brian Gormally, a practitioner working in Northern Ireland, provides an overview of the development of community restorative justice initiatives, their importance to the community, and the obstacles they are encountering.

Review of Criminal Justice System in Northern Ireland

The 1998 Belfast Agreement set in motion a review of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. The Criminal Justice Review Group commissioned to undertake this project released its final reports in March 2000. While not all materials address restorative justice, they offer valuable insights into issues surrounding attempts to transform a nation's criminal justice system.

Creating Alternatives in Northern Ireland.

Haunted by a history of violence, Northern Ireland communities have increasingly explored restorative responses to crime as an alternative to punishment violence used by paramilitary groups. In 1998, Greater Shankill Alternatives (Alternatives) was created to help young offenders learn the impact of their behaviour on themselves, their victims, and their community.