Restorative Justice

To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of juveniles who have been in conflict with the law here in the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 who have engaged in a restorative justice programme; the number of these cases that have been successful in terms of keeping the offenders out of detention centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Restorative justice principles underpin the Children Act, 2001, as amended. The Act introduced a comprehensive set of restorative justice provisions, all with the aim of diverting children from further criminal behaviour by making the offenders more directly accountable for their actions and by giving a greater voice to victims of crime. Essentially, there are two approaches to restorative justice provided for in the Act. The first approach is set out in Part 4 of the Act under the statutory diversion programme, as operated by An Garda Síochána. This provides for restorative cautions (Section 26) and restorative conferences (Section 29). The second approach is set out under Sections 78-87 of the Children Act 2001, where a court may direct the Probation Service to arrange for a family conference.

The Garda Commissioner has informed me that the figures in relation to children who have engaged with the Garda Restorative Justice Programme over the last few years are as follows :-

Restorative events under the Garda Diversion Programme are applied only to young persons who have already been accepted as suitable for admission to the programme. Therefore, the question of prosecution and possible detention does not arise in relation to these cases.

Under Section 78 of the Act, the Probation Service may be directed by the court to arrange for a family conference in cases where (a) the child accepts responsibility, (b) the Court thinks a family conference is desirable and (c) the child and child’s family agree and are able to make a positive contribution to the conference. The aim is to formulate an action plan which will be overseen by the Probation Service. Failure on the part of the child to comply with the plan may result in the case being returned to court. The sanction in respect of these cases is a matter for the court, but could involve either detention or other community sanctions. The Probation Service has advised me that the following are the most recent statistics available for family conferences: –