Restorative Youth Conferencing in Northern Ireland.

Source: (2011) Newsletter of the European Forum for Restorative Justice. 12(1):23-5.

The 10 April 1998 was a landmark date in the history of Northern Ireland. On this day the Belfast Agreement was signed by all the major political parties in the province and the British and Irish Governments. This agreement brought an en to over thirty years of civil conflict that disfigured the political and social landscape. The Belfast Agreement, or as it is commonly known, the Good Friday Agreement, enacted a wide ranging review of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. The Agreement also set out what the participants in the negotiations believed the aims of the criminal justice system should be. These included the delivery of a fair and impartial system of justice which, was importantly, responsive to the community’s concerns, encouraged its involvement where appropriate and had confidence in all its members. (excerpt)