Purpose of Criminal Justice System in Northern Ireland
To
deliver a Criminal Justice System which serves and protects the people in Northern Ireland and in which
the whole community can have confidence.”
(Annual Report 2003/04 Criminal Justice System NI).
PBNI
does this through the assessment and management of risk, through the preparation of professional assessments
to assist sentencers, over 8,000 pre-sentence reports (PSR’s) were requested in 2003-2004 from PBNI
by the Courts, and the supervision in the community of approximately 3,000 offenders.
We
employ more than 300 people and just under half of these are Probation Officers based in more than 30
area offices all over Northern Ireland. For 2004-05 PBNI has an operating budget
of £13.7 million.
We have a number of functions which are laid down in legislation:
- to carry out professional risk assessments and provide reports to Courts. Pre-Sentence Reports make a contribution to the sentencing decisions made by Magistrates and Judges;
- to supervise offenders in the community;
- to have staff who work in prisons providing a range of services in the supervision and assistance of offenders towards the prevention of crime;
- to provide reports for Life Sentence Review Commissioners.
PBNI
provides programmes for offenders subject to community supervision, which address offending behaviour
in order to reduce re-offending and to protect the public.
Delivering
Programmes
Programmes are delivered to groups of offenders with the
aim of changing behaviour associated with offending, for example, alcohol and drug misuse, sectarianism,
lack of self-control and violence in relationships.
Duke of
Edinburgh’s Award
PBNI holds a licence for the Award and encourages
offenders to achieve this universally recognised qualification through accrediting their work and providing
specific activities. During 2003-2004, 383 new referrals were made to the Award programme, of which
147 were subject to statutory supervision.
Custody Probation
Order
A Custody Probation Order is a sentence of the Court requiring
an offender to serve a period of imprisonment (offence must justify 12 months or more) followed by a
period of supervision by PBNI in the community (the period of supervision will be 1 to 3 years commencing
on date of release), and is unique to Northern Ireland.
394 Custody Probation
Orders were made in the year April 2003 to March 2004, an increase of 24% on the number made in the
previous year (317).
At the end of March 2004, 733 persons were subject
to a Custody Probation Order (351 in custody and 382 completing the community element of their sentence). Link to Types of orders
Grants
to Voluntary Organisations
In 2003-2004 the Probation Board allocated
£1.5 million in supporting schemes run by voluntary organisations for the supervision and assistance
of offenders and the prevention of crime.
The schemes include employment,
accommodation, youth activities and behaviour change programmes. A range of smaller grants are given to a number of local community organisations to support their efforts
in dealing with the consequences of crime in their areas. Link
to Partnerships
- Community