Debate contribution: Restorative Justice Practitioners
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 10 November 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Restorative Justice Practitioners
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5224626
Read the official Assembly record
Text
With your permission, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker, I will answer questions 4 and 13 together. Restorative justice is a well-established practice in Northern Ireland, both in the formal youth justice system and through community-based initiatives. It aims to address the harm and/or trauma caused by crime by involving victim, perpetrator and community and supporting dialogue to repair the harm caused and promote healing. It also emphasises the importance of supported rehabilitation in order to reduce the risk of further offending. Restorative justice has been at the core of the youth justice system here for over two decades, and a range of independent reports and Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) inspections have recognised those benefits.? Learning from the youth conferencing process is being used to develop and extend the use of restorative approaches in the adult justice system.
The two currently accredited community organisations have played an important role in promoting community safety, repairing relationships and reducing antisocial behaviour. They work in partnership with justice partners to deliver restorative approaches to harm that does not meet the criminal threshold. They have also played a key role in the development of the new accreditation arrangements as part of the restorative justice working group.
My Department has been delivering on the commitments in the adult restorative justice strategy since its launch in 2022, including through the publication of the revised restorative justice protocol in 2023, a key aspect of which is the development of new practice standards and an accreditation framework to govern the delivery of future restorative work. That framework developed by my Department in the interim protocol lead was published on 17 October 2025 and aligned with the launch of the application process for those wishing to become accredited. That application window will be open for six weeks, closing on Friday 28 November. Once the applications close, the protocol lead and an independent suitability panel will assess and make recommendations on the appropriate level of accreditation. A register of accredited organisations and practitioners will be published on the departmental website early in 2026.
343 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.63).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.63 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.95 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.03 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.01 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:42 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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