Review of the Criminal Justice System in Northern Ireland - CAIN

Review of Criminal Justice in Northern IrelandA Consultation Paper5Criminal Justice and the Community5.1 This chapter examines the development of partnership approaches to preventingand dealing with crime, the development of restorative justice in Northern Ireland,and ways to improve the ability of the criminal justice system to deal with crime andto target its resources more effectively. It notes the Government’s work in Englandand Wales on vulnerable or intimidated witnesses, and sets out how work on thatsubject is being taken forward in Northern Ireland together with other measures tomeet the needs of victims.5.2 A central theme of this Review will be to consider how the criminal justice systemcan be more sharply focused on the needs of the community, and the needs of thecitizen who comes into contact with it, particularly those of victims and witnesses.The Review will consider how individual citizens, the community and voluntarysectors, and the broad resources of government at all levels can be engaged in apartnership to make the community safer by reducing criminality, the incidence ofcrime and the fear of crime. Restorative justice, crime prevention, crime reduction,community safety and the drugs strategy are all important elements of an approachwhich needs to be practical, based on local needs and delivered with the activesupport of the local community. Such work must also be based on best practicewithin Northern Ireland and further afield, and based on the available researchevidence of what works in reducing crime and criminality.5.3 In March 1998 the Government published a paper, ‘Partnership against Crime’,based on a Government paper submitted to the multi-party talks (reproduced atAnnex D), which affirmed the Government’s commitment to a partnershipapproach in addressing the problems of crime and anti-social behaviour in thecommunity. It focused on how Northern Ireland’s well developed community andvoluntary sectors can work effectively in partnership with the criminal justice systemand other statutory agencies in helping to tackle the problems of crime and antisocialbehaviour. It emphasised the Government’s commitment to working inpartnership with the community. The paper welcomed and encouraged innovativeideas aimed at empowering communities, in partnership with public agencies, toimprove social cohesion, promote social inclusion, resolve disputes and address theproblem of crime and the fear of crime. However it warned that “alternative justicecould not be tolerated” and stressed that the formal processes of investigation,prosecution, adjudication and compulsory intervention or referral had to remainthe preserve of appropriate statutory bodies.5.4 A range of organisations and sectors are involved in crime prevention in NorthernIreland. Their activities in this area include situational crime prevention aimed atreducing opportunities for offending, diverting people ‘at risk’ away from offendingbehaviour and addressing broader policy and service provision issues which canimpact on the level of criminal behaviour. Within the criminal justice system theRUC, Police Authority, Probation, and the Northern Ireland Office have variousroles in this field, as do voluntary sector organisations and a plethora of communitygroups. Statutory agencies in the field of social provision also contribute to thedevelopment of safer communities. There is a variety of potential fundingmechanisms. An example of inter-agency working and partnership is in the field ofanti-drugs activity where structures have been established at the Northern Irelandlevel and locally to develop and implement strategies focused on education andprevention, enforcement and treatment.19