Debate contribution: Adult Restorative Justice
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 1 December 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Adult Restorative Justice
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5269136
Read the official Assembly record
Text
My Department published a new restorative justice practice standards and accreditation framework on 17 October 2025. That will govern the delivery of future restorative justice work for accredited organisations and practitioners. The framework development has been taken forward in partnership with our protocol lead and a restorative justice working group, with statutory, voluntary and community sector stakeholder representation, which considered and agreed the core elements of the new process. One of the key changes is the introduction of organisational-plus-practitioner accreditation, which was first outlined in the 2023 restorative justice protocol. The three practitioner accreditation tiers are level 1, which is foundation; level 2, which is intermediate; and level 3, which is advanced. Each level requires increasing levels of experience and training. Level 1 practitioners will undertake restorative work in response to incidents that fall beneath the criminal justice threshold but have the potential to escalate to the attention of the police. Level 2 practitioners will undertake restorative justice work relating to formal criminal justice cases, and level 3 practitioners will be accredited to facilitate restorative justice processes relating to sensitive, complex and serious crimes. The level that is awarded will be determined by the practice experience of those who apply. The accreditation application window opened on 17 October and closes this Friday. The protocol lead and an independent suitability panel will then assess the applications and make recommendations on the appropriate level of accreditation, which will be determined on an individual basis. A senior official in my Department will consider and sign off that recommendation. A register of accredited organisations and practitioners will be published on the Department of Justice website in 2026 once the current accreditation round is complete.
280 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: 0.02 (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).
- 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 | 0.42 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | 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 14:03 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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