Mixed feelings about Criminal Justice Review
From The Irish News - 11th December 2001
by Breidge Gadd
Indeed experts in restorative justice schemes are agreed that in order for this process to work one of the critical factors in successful schemes is the neutrality of the coordinator's office.
Neither victim nor offender should feel under pressure to be involved in the restorative process which, by its very nature, works best if it is voluntary commitment.
A voluntary bureau, employed by the court but sufficiently distant to maintain its own professional neutrality, best handles the whole process on behalf of all parties.
Not only does the proposed legislation require the coordinator's role to be placed at the heart of government but the community, which after all, is closest to the impact of crime doesn't by right have a place in the picture at all.
Community groups' only role, and then by invite (and only from recognised officials) is to be asked to deal with low-level nuisance crime.
This failure to recognise the valuable role that the community can play will, I fear, means that proper, dynamic restorative justice will never get off the ground: a lost opportunity for communities who want more successful outcomes to crime in their areas and who are currently, in difficult circumstances, trying to develop restorative approaches to crime problems.
The proposals for community safety, outlined in the Implementation Plan are to be welcomed as for the first time the development and actioning of community safety plans is placed on a statutory basis.
It is good also to see recognition from the review recommendations that community safety issues are properly the responsibility of the District Policing Boards (suggested rename of Community Safety and Policing Partnerships) and also of interest to the newly formed district council-based Local Strategic Partnerships. It is also good to see that attention will be given to this matter at central policy level.
In conclusion therefore there are several good things about the proposed changes in criminal justice, but also some seriously missed opportunities.
My experience in the criminal justice system was that the judiciary and magistracy welcomed and were at ease with community involvement in the supervision of offenders. It seems to me that it is incumbent on the government to deliver legislation that will make this happen.
Reference: Criminal Justice Review Implementation Plan Nov 2001 Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill Explanatory notes Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill Breidge Gadd was chief probation officer between 1986 and 2000 |
