Developing Community Courts With Restorative Justice In Ireland
| Author | Dr Paul Gavin, Dr Muna Sabbagh |
| Pages | 19-40 |
19
British Journal of Community Justice
©2019 Manchester Metropolitan University
ISSN 1475-0279
Vol. 15(2) 19–40
DEVELOPING COMMUNITY COURTS WITH
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN IRELAND
Dr Paul Gavin, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Bath Spa University; Dr Muna Sabbagh,
Lecturer in Law, University of Hertfordshire
Abstract
In 2007 the Irish National Crime Council recommended that community courts should be
established in Ireland, located in the inner city of Dublin, to deal with quality-of-life
offences. In 2009 the final report of the National Commission on Restorative Justice
recommended that restorative justice be legislated for, and introduced nationally in the
criminal justice system in Ireland, by no later than 2015. Now, in 2019, we are still
awaiting the introduction of community courts and the national rollout of resto rative
justice. Some progress, however, has been made in both areas. In 2014 the Minister for
Justice announced that a pilot scheme would be established in Dublin, through which a
community court would be established. Close monitoring and evaluation would determine
whether co mmunity courts should then be rolled out on a national level. Several
restorative justice schemes around the country have been expanded since the publication
of the final report of the National Commission on Restorative Justice (2009), and a small
but dedicated restorative justice movement is developing in Ireland. This paper argues
that the rollout of restorative justice should coincide with the development and rollout of
community courts in Ireland, and that community courts should contain an element of
restorative justice. It also argues that the recent expansion of restorative justice sch emes
should be allowed to continue independently of the development of community courts in
order to help facilitate a national rollout of restorative justice in the Irish criminal justice
system.
Keywords
Community courts; community justice; restorative justice; community engagement;
problem-solving courts
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Dr Ian Marder and other contributors for their comments on
earlier drafts of this paper.
Gavin and Sabbagh
20
Introduction
In 2007 Ireland’s National Crime Council published a report entitled Problem solving
justice: the case for community courts in Ireland. The report recommended that
community courts be established in Ireland as sta nd-alone courts in areas of high
population and as part of ordinary district courts in rural areas. Also in 2007, the National
Commission on Restorative Justice was established by the Minister for Justice, Michael
MacDowell TD, who stated that restorative justice was ‘a victim and community oriented
approach which requires the perpetrator to face up to the harm he or she has caused and
repair or make goo d the damage done’ (Department of Justice and Equality, 2007).
MacDowell supported th is approach, saying: ‘I want to see h ow it can be expanded in
Ireland with appropriate structures and a sound funding base’ (Department of Justice a nd
Equality, 2007). In 2009 the National Commission on Restorative Justice published its final
report and was unanimous in its recommendation that ‘a resto rative perspective be
introduced nationally into the Irish criminal justice system’ (National Commission on
Restorative Justice, 2009:3).
This paper consi ders both community courts and restorative justice in the Irish context. It
discusses the development of community courts internation ally before examining the
National Crime Council (2007) report and its recommendation s. It then discusses the
development of restorative justice in Ireland and charts its slow and steady progress since
the publication final report of the National Commission on Restora tive Justice (2009). This
paper argues that any introduction of community courts in Ireland should include a
restorative element, while restorative justice should also be allowed to d evelop
independently of community courts. Given that Irish criminal justice policy often follows
that of the UK, the op eration of the North Liverpool Community Justice Centre is
considered. This centre was visited by both the National Crime Council and the National
Commission on Restorative Justice while researching their reports.
The development of community courts
The first community court was established in New York City in the Midtown area of
Manhattan in 1993. Its principal focus was on q uality-of-life offences, such as drug u se,
shoplifting, prostitution and vandalism, and it ‘sought to combine punishment and help b y
sentencing low-level offend ers to perform visible commu nity restitution, receive onsite
social services, including drug treatment, counselling and job training’ (Center for Cou rt
Innovation, 2011:1). In 2000 a second community court emerged in New York, this time in
the neighbou rhood of Red Hook in Brooklyn. The model that emerged in Red Hook was
multi-faceted. For example, in addition to hearing low-level cri minal cases it handled
selected juvenile delinquency cases from the family court and landlord–tenant disputes
from the civil court (Center for Court Innovation, 2010). The Red Hook model ensured that
a multi-agency approach was taken to criminal behaviour, and various agencies were
located on site. One of the successes attributed to the Red Hook model was in reducing
recidivism: ad ult defendants were 10% less likely to commit new crimes than offenders
who had been processed in a traditional courthouse, and juvenile defendants were 20%
less likely to reoffend. The Red Hook model has also increased pu blic trust in criminal
justice agencies, as approval ratings for police, prosecutors and judges have all increased
three-fold since the Red Hook Community Court opened. Furthermore, it has retained
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