Th e Problem of Community in a Justice System in Transition: Th e Case of Community Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland (original) (raw)

Th e article describes how community restorative justice in Northern Ireland developed out of the civil confl ict. It illustrates how its valuable work has been stifl ed by the reforms to the criminal justice system arising from the Northern Irish peace process. Habermas's theory of the colonisation of the lifeworld by the system is used to explain how restorative justice tends to be marginalised or co-opted by the criminal justice system. Th e article concludes that any process of social reconstruction must focus as much on strengthening civil society as it does political reform and economic development.