Restorative justice referrals surge by more than 22% year-on-year

Restorative justice can help a victim ask questions about what happened, regain a feeling of control, and get closure on the incident, and for the offender to take responsibility for what they have done.

The number of restorative justice referrals in the criminal process surged last year to the highest ever recorded.

Maynooth University’s School of Law and Criminology, working with the Probation Service and community-based restorative justice providers, found a 22.3% year-on-year increase in referrals for these services, as provision was expanded to several new counties.