In May 2023, the Irish partners of the European project Restorative Justice: Strategies for Change published new data tracking restorative justice referrals across Ireland in 2021 and 2022.
This represents the third dataset published after a mapping exercise, funded by the Department of Justice, was published with 2019 figures. A second sweep, published last year, gave figures for 2020.
The new dataset suggests a decline in referrals to restorative justice between 2019 and 2022 – the years before and after the pandemic restrictions were lifted.
Dr. Ian Marder (Assistant Professor in Criminology, School of Law and Criminology Maynooth University) wrote an article in The Journal to mark the launch of the dataset, which you can read here.
The Journal also wrote a news article about the data, which can be read here.
You can find a technical overview of the dataset on the Restorative Justice: Strategies for Change website here.
Last year, Ian published an article in the International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice providing a detailed analysis of the 2019 figures. The article is available open access here.
In Maynooth, Ian teaches LW687 Restorative Justice on the MA in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice. Applications are open for the September 2023 intake of the MA programme.
