Restorative Justice - Is More Better? The Experience of Police-led Restorative Cautioning Pilots in Northern Ireland

In recent years there has been a considerable growth in the use of restorative justice schemes, particularly for young offenders. This article describes how two police-led restorative cautioning pilots for juveniles operated in Northern Ireland. The pilots were found to offer a number of distinct advantages over the traditional cautioning practice and helped secure some of the values of restorative justice. However, they were not without fault and the research found evidence of ‘net-widening’, whereby some offenders appeared to have been drawn into the schemes unnecessarily. It was also evident that the schemes required significant resources in order to involve participants (particularly victims) and to operate effectively. In light of the government’s intention to greatly expand restorative practice in Northern Ireland generally, this article argues for the need to do so with care, if the quality of restorative justice is not to be compromised.