Source: (2002) In Restorative Justice and its Relation to the Criminal Justice System: Papers from the second conference of the European Forum for Victim-Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice, Oostende, Belgium, 10-12 October. Pp. 14-24. Downloaded 23 February 2005.
This paper presents an overview of findings from recent and current evaluations of restorative
justice initiatives for young offenders in the Garda Siochána, the national police service of the
Republic of Ireland. The restorative interventions are of two kinds, both of which occur under
the Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme. The first involves the victim in formal cautions and
offers the possibility of apology and reparation. The second provides for family conferences that operate in much the same way as restorative cautions but go on to discuss the offending
behaviour in more depth and develop action plans to avoid a recurrence. The paper addresses
the place of the initiatives in the Irish criminal justice system and presents relevant results
from evaluations of 83 cases. Among the issues raised are: case selection (criteria, suitability,
barriers to greater use), the voluntary nature of participation and the type of outcomes
achieved. Author’s abstract.
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