The British government today unveiled plans which could allow officially-sanctioned neighbourhood justice schemes in Northern Ireland to deal with low-level crime in their areas.
There are currently 14 privately-funded community restorative justice schemes operating in republican neighbourhoods in Northern Ireland. Five also operate in loyalist communities. Supporters of the scheme claim they can provide a viable alternative to expulsions and the so-called punishment beatings and shootings meted out by paramilitary groups.
Under draft proposals released by Northern Ireland Office minister David Hanson, the police will have to be informed if community restorative justice groups, which bring the perpetrators of low-level crime face to face with their victims, want to handle a specific case.
However in republican areas where Sinn Fein and its supporters refuse to engage with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), there will be no obligation on those running schemes to contact police officers directly.
Instead they can alert the PSNI by contacting the Probation Board or Youth Justice Agency, which will pass a proposal by a community restorative justice group on to the police.
Alternatively, the proposal could be passed to an advisory panel featuring the PSNI and representatives of the scheme, Probation Board or Youth Justice Agency.
The police will then consider if there needs to be any action - such as fingerprinting - before referring the case to the Public Prosecution Service, which will ultimately decide if it should be handled by a community restorative justice scheme.
Concerns have been expressed in recent weeks by the Northern Ireland Policing Board chairman Sir Desmond Rea, along with unionist and nationalist politicians, that restorative justice schemes in republican areas could be allowed to operate like quasi-police forces with stop and search powers.
The government was also warned it must not sanction schemes which freeze the PSNI or other criminal justice agencies out.