Adult Restorative Justice Strategy for Northern Ireland

Overview

Introduction & Purpose

The Department of Justice is seeking your views on a proposed Adult Restorative Justice Strategy for Northern Ireland.

The consultation document has been developed in partnership with colleagues from the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Probation Board for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Prison Service, Victim Support Northern Ireland, Community Restorative Justice Ireland and Northern Ireland Alternatives. Information on each of the organisations represented can be found in the Strategy consultation document.

The document aims to set out why and how the Department could develop a comprehensive strategic approach to the use of restorative practices in all aspects and at all stages of the criminal justice system. At the heart of the work is the desire to:

• place victims front and centre;
• develop appropriate structures and opportunities to allow victims to be involved, whether directly or indirectly, in the justice system and in decisions which affect them;
• engage and challenge offenders to understand the effects of their actions on victims and the wider community; and
• improve outcomes for all those affected by offending behaviour, whether victims, offenders, families or communities.

The purpose of this consultation is to invite views on each section of the document, and on our approach to Restorative Justice generally. If you have not already viewed a copy of the consultation document, it is attached at the bottom of the page together with associated information.   

Consultation Information

The information attached at the bottom of this page is:

• Adult Restorative Justice Strategy Consultation Document 
• Equality Screening Form
• Rural Needs Impact Assessment

You may wish to save these document so that you can refer back to them when completing your return.

Duration

The consultation will run for 12 weeks. The closing date is Friday 11 September 2020.

How to respond

Consultation questions are posed at various sections of the document. You are asked to respond using this template, and should include your name and contact address details in the spaces provided.

For queries and responses to the consultation, please contact:

E-mail: RJ.Strategy@justice-ni.x.gsi.gov.uk or;

Reducing Offending Policy Unit

Room 308

Dundonald House

Stormont

BELFAST

BT4 3SU

Telephone: 028 90 524745

Any comments, queries or concerns about the way in which the consultation process has been conducted should be sent to the following address:

E-mail: equalityandstaffsupportservices@justice-ni.x.gsi.gov.uk or

The Equality Officer

Room 3.4

Castle Buildings

Stormont Estate

Belfast

BT4 3SG

Alternative Formats

An electronic version of this document is available to view and download from the DOJ website (www.justice-ni.gov.uk ). Hard copies will be posted on request.

Copies in other formats, including Braille, large print, etc may be made available on request. Please contact us if you need copies in an alternative format or a language other than English, and we will do our best to assist you.

Privacy, Confidentiality and Access to Consultation Responses

For this consultation, we may publish all responses except for those where the respondent indicates that they are an individual acting in a private capacity (e.g. a member of the public). All responses from organisations and individuals responding in a professional capacity will be published. We will remove all email addresses and telephone numbers from these responses, but apart from this we may publish them in full. For more information about what we do with personal data, please see our consultation privacy notice at the bottom of this page, named Annex A

Your response, and all other responses to this consultation, may also be disclosed on request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). However all disclosures will be in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679.

If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential, it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential, so that this may be considered if the Department should receive a request for the information under the FOIA or EIR.

What happens next

The Department will consider all responses to this consultation and publish a summary of those responses on the Department's website. This consultation will ensure that all of your views are taken into account in the development of any policy or legislative proposals, to be considered by the Minister in due course.