Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland
I am back at work in the Shenandoah Valley after an exhausting and exciting trip to Northern Ireland. During my time in Belfast, I had the pleasure of meeting with three different groups who share my passion for Restorative Justice.
Participants in the roundtable at Belfast Castle gather for a group selfie.
One of the best-attended programs involved a workshop and roundtable organized by Alternatives RJ in Belfast. Our program was part of a series of events that commenced last summer with a cultural exchange between a group of Columbian women and some of those participating in the October Roundtable. The roundtable was facilitated by Denise Hughes, a manager with Alternatives RJ. I was joined as a guest by Karina Escazú, a former prosecutor from Usha, Argentina, who is now working to explore restorative justice in criminal legal processes and protection orders, particularly impacting women and children
During the session, my primary role was to discuss the principles of restorative justice and how applying those principles to any process may make it more restorative. As an example, I cited a civil case that included many attorneys and how I encouraged the attorneys to collaborate in moving the case forward in an amicable fashion through the litigation process while continuing to work to advocate for the client. Following introductions and an overview of RJ, we engaged in small group discussions about our work and whether or not we considered it part of a peacebuilding process. We shared aspects of our work that we found restorative and areas in which we would like to see substantial changes to make it more restorative.
The workshop concluded with a restorative justice talking circle exploring how we might teach others to work more restoratively in any context and the dreams and hopes we have for our own work as a community of peacebuilders. The workshop participants were enthusiastic about the program and have committed to working together moving forward to continue the conversation. One of the many exciting things about this workshop is that I had the pleasure of doing it in Belfast Castle. The building was built in 1870 (after the original 12th-century building burned to the ground. The building was beautiful—with great spaces for both the small group discussions and the talking circle.
The program participants were people from the following organizations: Alternatives RJ, Ulster University, Shankill Women’s Center, Training for Women Network, Belfast South Community Resources, Mediation Northern Ireland, Donegall Pass Community Enterprises, Public Service of Northern Ireland, and Rural Community Network of Northern Ireland.
We also joined a group from the UK Department of Justice in Belfast, working to incorporate restorative justice in probation. While the meeting included time for presentations, sharing, and imagining outcomes, we also found time to launch a program for the winter of 2025. I will be coordinating an online forum between participants in the restorative justice initiative in the Northern District of West Virginia and the UK Department of Justice in Belfast to discuss the implementation of Re-Entry circles for participants graduating from drug courts. This stems from the initiative funded by the West Virginia Bar Foundation that I’ve been working on with Judge Aloi and grAce.
We joined a group working with the Probation Board for Northern Ireland for a discussion of Restorative Justice and the potential in drug courts.
Another future exchange will be developed out of my meeting with several young law students in Belfast. The students were surprised to learn about the extended period of time necessary to become a lawyer in the United States and that we still follow English Common Law in many situations. I enjoyed sharing with them ways that restorative justice can be integrated into many legal dispute-resolution methods.
Finally, I had the great pleasure of meeting with Timothy Chapman, a former lecturer at Ulster University in Restorative Practices and Chair of the European Forum on Restorative Justice. He shared his current work involving restorative justice dialogues in Northern Ireland involving harms that are attributed to religious institutions.
Working in RJ can often be lonely in areas where judges, lawyers, and the public are not aware of the opportunities and solutions RJ can provide. These vibrant, enthusiastic dialogues with people around the world working to solve the same problems have given me a great deal of optimism and excitement as we continue the work, regardless of changes in culture and legal systems.