IPRT Submission to the Joint Committee on Justice on Anti-Social Behaviour

21st January 2022

IPRT was invited by the Joint Committee on Justice to make a written submission on the topic of ‘Anti-Social Behaviour’. IPRT welcomes the decision of the Joint Committee on Justice to examine the issue of Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) in detail, and appreciates the opportunity to make a submission.

In our submission, IPRT highlights strategies that do not work to deter anti-social behaviour, as well as pointing to evidence on what has been shown to work. In particular, approaches that focus on addressing the underlying causes of ASB and offending are more effective in reducing such behaviours.

IPRT recommendations:

1. Extend youth diversion measures to 18-24-year-olds (as per the commitments in the Youth Justice Strategy) without delay, and provide adequate funding in order to ensure the success of such proposals.
2. Extend the Bail Supervision Scheme nationally, and progress the Youth Joint Agency Response to Crime (Y-JARC) pilot (as per the commitment in the Youth Justice Strategy), without delay.
3. Insert into legislation a positive statutory obligation on all agencies to cooperate in respect of a child identified as being at risk.
4. Invest in community-based sanctions and progress the Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill without further delay; build on the work done through initiatives such as Restorative Justice: Strategies for Change (RJS4C) and embed restorative justice processes within all criminal justice agencies, and at every stage of the criminal justice process.
5. Insert into legislation a positive statutory obligation on all agencies (including housing, health, social protection, and education) to cooperate around prisoner release.

Read the IPRT Submission on Anti-Social Behaviour in full here, or download it below.