Long launches public consultation on a new single community court order for children
Date published:
Justice Minister, Naomi Long, has today launched a public consultation to seek views on plans to simplify and streamline the sentencing framework for children.
The Department’s proposals will see the current seven court-ordered community sentences replaced by a new, single order. The new order, which will take the best aspects of current practice both here and elsewhere, is intended to be flexible, with a range or ‘menu’ of requirements that can be added/removed in a proportionate, tailored response to each child’s circumstances.
In launching the consultation, Minister Long said:
“When I published the Strategic Framework for Youth Justice in 2022, I committed to changing the youth court sentencing framework to make it easier for children and their families to understand and comply with orders. This public consultation sets out the work that has been undertaken since then and enables us to gather views on our proposals for a new, single order.
Our current system is very complex, with seven court orders, two supervisory bodies and multiple pieces of legislation. Many of the orders are rarely used, but children can be subject to a number of different orders at the same time. Our plan is to replace these with a single new order which can be tailored to the individual child to address their offending behaviour.”
The most commonly used community order for children in Northern Ireland is the Youth Conference Order, which has received international recognition for its success, particularly the inclusion of victims’ voices as part of a restorative process. Any new order will have the youth conferencing approach at its heart, but will enable improvements to be made, based on over two decades of operational experience. Feedback from stakeholders, in particular families and children with experience of the youth justice system, has informed the work to date, and the consultation outlines proposals for what a new order could look like and how it would operate in practice.
The views of the wider community are now being sought on these proposals. Further information, including the consultation document, can be found on the DoJ website.
Child-friendly versions of the consultation document and online survey are also available.
To take part in the consultation, please visit the Citizen Space platform.
Notes to editors:
- The consultation will run for 12 weeks from 11 April to 4 July 2025.
- For media enquiries contact the Department of Justice Press Office via Email
- The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.