Concern republicans will police neighbourhoods

COMMUNITY justice proposals for the North could lead to republican “warlords” controlling policing in their neighbourhoods while keeping the PSNI at arm’s length, it was claimed last night.

The SDLP, unionist parties, and both main opposition parties in the Republic expressed grave reservations about guidelines for community restorative justice (CRJ) schemes, issued yesterday by the North’s justice minister David Hanson.

Sinn Féin, however, welcomed the proposals.

There are 19 such schemes in operation in the North, 14 of which are in republican districts.

Under Mr Hanson’s draft guidelines, schemes would be officially sanctioned. They would bring victims and offenders together. Offenders would have to do community work.

The guidelines cover “low-level criminal charges” and will not cover serious offences, such as sexual offences. They are widely viewed as an alternative to paramilitary punishment attacks and beatings.

However, in what is seen as a concession to Sinn Féin, community restorative justice groups in republican areas will not be obliged to contact the PSNI directly. Instead, they will be allowed submit proposals to the Probation Board, the Youth Justice Agency, or to an advisory panel, which will pass them on to the police.

These proposals have led to accusations that CRJ schemes will create a two-tier system with no obligation to endorse policing. The SDLP described it as a “political cop-out.”

Party leader Mark Durkan, after meeting Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Dublin, said he was gravely concerned about the direction taken by the British Government.

SDLP policing spokesperson Alex Attwood said the party was strongly in favour of restorative justice but the protocol had got things badly wrong. He said the indirect method of reporting to the PSNI recreated a failed model. He also said that the absence of vetting would leave a situation where “known republican offenders” were heavily involved with CRJ.

Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly said that CRJ schemes had worked well over five years and insisted it was not an alternative to policing.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said the CRJ schemes, as proposed, “leave open the possibility of a two-tiered justice system developing; with one tier being controlled by republican and loyalist paramilitary organisations.”

Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said: “We are deeply concerned that the current plans will give people with a previous history of violence against their own communities a central role in the operation of these programmes.”

Meanwhile, Fine Gael and Labour yesterday published a joint Dáil motion condemning the Government’s approach to so-called ‘on-the-runs’ (OTRs).

It criticises the Government plan to use the Presidential pardon procedure for political purposes.

The debate will commence in the Dáil tonight.