How can the quality of restorative justice be sustained within the criminal justice system?

In the past few years the popularity and use of restorative justice has grown in the UK.  However, little attention has been paid to the quality of implementation and its fidelity to the key principles and values of restorative practices.  This session will commence with a presentation of the findings of two research studies into restorative practice within the criminal justice system, one in England and one in Northern Ireland.

Having identified some of the challenges facing practitioners, participants in this seminar will engage in a problem solving circle in which they will give their personal responses, offer their views on what causes these problems and suggest how they should be addressed.

The presenters

Olivia Barnes is a community restorative justice practitioner in inner city Belfast, as well as a part time criminology lecturer at Ulster University.  In October 2015, she completed her DPhil in Criminology at Ulster University, Jordanstown.

Fernanda Fonseca Rosenblatt is Professor of Law at the Catholic University of Pernambuco (Brazil) and Assistant Professor at the International Institute for Restorative Practices (US).  In January 2014, she completed her DPhil in Criminology at the Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford.  She is currently a member of the Editorial Board and the Book Review Editor for 'Restorative Justice: An International Journal'. She is the author of The Role of Community in Restorative Justice (Routledge 2015).

The seminar is free.

Contact Amanda Higgins at av.higgins@ulster.ac.uk to confirm your attendance.