The Northern Irish
Model of Restorative
Justice
Tim Chapman
University of Ulster
Northern Ireland and Restorative
Justice
Community system
State system
 Community restorative
 Low risk – Police restorative
justice Ireland
 Alternatives NI
School system
Children’s Services
 Family Group Conferences
 Children’s Units
cautioning
 Medium risk – Public Prosecution
Service referral for diversionary
conference by Youth Conference
Service
 High risk – Youth Court referrals to
Youth Conference Service
 Priority young offenders
programme
 Prison Service – rehabilitation and
resettlement
Youth Conferences
 Statutory since 2003
 Mainstream
 Prosecution referred
 Youth court referred
 No cherry picking
 Referrals and ratification by PPS or Youth Court
The Balanced Model
Community
Community safety and reintegration
Harm
Person responsible for harm
Reducing risk and working
towards a better life
Injured party
Accountability, protection
and repairing the harm
Core Values
Responsibility
Relationship
Respect
Models of addressing challenging behaviour and
its aftermath
High
Do to
Out of anger
Be punitive
Stigmatising
Coercive
Punitive
Do with
Respect
Be restorative
Inclusive
Participative
Transformative
Responsibility
Move away from
Out of fear
Be neglectful
Indifferent
Passive
Avoidance
Low
Do for
Out of sympathy
Be permissive
Protective
Interventionist
Rescuing
Relationship
High
Adapted form McCold and Wachtel’s Social Discipline Window
The Youth Conference
Process
Pre-Conference
Conference
Post Conference
The Dialogue Approach
Storytelling
Expression of emotion
Dialogue on needs and action
Measuring
Effectiveness
Over 9,000 Referrals
Year
Court
PPS
Total
2006/07
793
503
1,296
2007/08
1,129
802
1,931
2008/09
792
844
1,636
2009/10
891
949
1,840
2010/11
YTD*
Total
*2010/11 Apr - Dec
753
777
1,530
4,358
3,875
8,233
*February
2011
Increasing proportion of disposals,
reducing custody, reducing
reoffending
2006
2005
Baseline Disposal
No. ReOffending
Total
%
No. ReOffending
Total
%
Immediate Custody
29
41
70.7
43
59
72.9
Combination Order
6
9
-
7
16
-
Community Service Order
15
30
-
18
54
33.3
Probation Order
51
87
58.6
63
127
49.6
Attendance Centre Order
45
97
46.4
53
104
51.0
Community Responsibility Order
21
42
50.0
12
22
-
Community based disposals
138
265
52.1
153
323
47.4
Court Ordered Youth
Conference
102
215
47.4
43
97
44.3
Div. Youth Conference Plan
63
223
28.3
23
75
30.7
All non-custodial disposals
452
1,110
40.7
409
1,091
37.5
ALL DISPOSALS
481
1,151
41.8
452
1,150
39.3
Outcomes for Youth Conferences

Number of youth conferences 9,000 +

Over 50,000 people have participated in a youth conference

Victim attendance; around 70%

Victim and young person satisfaction ; 90% and 95%

8 out of 10 victims prefer the youth conference to the traditional court process

100% victims would recommend conferences to others

94% successful completion of plans

England and Wales put three times as many young people into custody as Northern Ireland
Success Factors
Consistent practice
 Robust research based practice model
 Practice manual
 Performance targets
 Supervision
Commitment to professional
development
 Accredited training
 Supporting the increasing demands of practice
Courses
Three modules
 Undergraduate certificate
 Postgraduate Certificate
Six modules
 Postgraduate certificate
 Postgraduate diploma
Nine modules or dissertation
 Masters
Students
 Open Course 23 students
 Youth Conference Service 48 students
 Police Service 80 + students
 Community Restorative Justice 38 students
 Prison Service 38 Students
 Youth Justice Agency 66 Students
 Priority Young Offenders Programme 30 Students
 Family Group Conferences 40 Students
University Modules
 Foundation skills
 Reflecting on Restorative Practice
 Responding restoratively to
people who have been harmed
 Responding restoratively to
people responsible for harm
 Restorative responses to sexual
harm
 Restorative responses to serious
and persistent harmful behaviour
 The restorative prison
 The restorative school
 Enhancing restorative skills
 The restorative community
 Family group conference practice
 The restorative organisation
and processes
 Building a restorative society
 The restorative children’s home
 Restorative practices and faith
organisations
Effective Practice
 External evaluation
 Performance targets
 Continuous improvement
Building Blocks
Innovative Practice
Effective Practice
Competent Practice
Consistent Practice
Challenges Ahead
YCS
Referrals
By
Young
Person
No. of Referrals
No. young
% of young
Cumulative % of
people
people
young people
1
2,831
63.1
63.1
2
748
16.7
79.8
3
315
7.0
86.8
4
212
4.7
91.5
5
107
2.4
93.9
6
80
1.8
95.7
7
51
1.1
96.9
8
38
0.8
97.7
9
32
0.7
98.4
10
20
0.4
98.9
11-30
51
1.1
100.0
Total Referrals
8,995
-
-
No. young people
4,485
-
-
Priority Youth Offenders
Project
Intensive relationship
Circle of Support and
Accountability
Other challenges
 Updating practice > revise practice manual
 Rebalancing the state and community programmes
 Prison reform
Thank you
Contact
tj.chapman@ulster.ac.uk