1. Key Findings

1.1 About this bulletin

This bulletin presents data on cases relating to young people (aged 10 to 17 years) coming into formal contact with the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland for the year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. It provides some detail on those referred for the Youth Engagement process, alongside information on the time taken for that process to complete and the subsequent outcomes. The first bulletin in the series was produced for the year to April 2019. Like the rest of the justice system, the Youth Engagement process was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and that is reflected in the historical numbers reported in this publication.

1.2 Overall

  • In 2024-25, there were 2,712 cases where young people came into formal contact with the criminal justice system. This is a decrease of 644 cases(19.2%) compared with 2023-24.

  • The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) assessed 40.0% (1,084) of these cases as suitable for resolution through the Youth Engagement process and 55.9% (1,515) not suitable.

  • Among the cases deemed not suitable for Youth Engagement, 44.5%(674) were assessed as appropriate for prosecution, and 54.5% (826)required no further action.

1.3 Age Group and Gender

  • 73.1% (1,983) of young people coming into formal contact with the justice system in 2024–25 were male1.

  • Over two fifths of cases (40.7%, 1,103) in 2024-25 involved young people aged 16 or 17 at the time of offence. The remaining 59.3% (1,609) related to those aged between 10 to 15 at the time of offence.

1.4 Youth Engagement Process

  • Youth Conference was the most common outcome (52.1%, 565) for those completing the youth engagement process.2

  • Most cases (93.5%, 87) removed from the Youth Engagement process were returned to the PPS for a further decision on how it should be progressed.

  • The median time for a case to be dealt with through the Youth Engagement process in 2024-25 was 77 days, up from 67 days in 2023-24.

  • Whilst legal representation is offered to those involved in the Youth Engagement process; it was declined by more than half (66.8%, 435).

  • Among those who participated in Youth Engagement clinics and answered the relevant survey question, 98.9% (181) said it ‘helped them understand the choices available to them’.

1 Figures for males include a small number of individuals whose gender was unknown or who identified as transgender; separate listing is not possible due to disclosure risk.

2 Following a change in process in October 2024, a small number of cases which were suitable for the YE process but did not require a YE clinic have been included in the statistics for 2024-25.

2. Context

2.1 What is Youth Engagement?

Young people coming into contact with the criminal justice system may go through the formal court process; be dealt with through an out-of-court diversionary disposal; or have no further action taken. The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) decide which route may be appropriate for each young person dependent upon the circumstances of the case and the seriousness of any offence involved. Those deemed suitable to be dealt with by an out-of-court diversionary disposal may be progressed through a process called Youth Engagement (YE). In most cases, where PPS decides that a young person’s case can be dealt with outside the court system, the young person will be asked to attend a YE clinic. The aim of the clinic is to make sure that young people have all the information they need to help them decide what to do.

At the clinic, the young person, their parent(s)/carer(s) and solicitor meet with youth justice workers from the Youth Justice Agency (YJA) and the police (PSNI). They let the young person know what the PPS has decided in their case, what it means and the options available to them. A solicitor can help guide the young person through the process and explain things such as the crime they have been accused of and the nature of any relevant evidence in the case.

2.2 Youth Engagement Process

The flowchart at Figure 1 shows the YE process from the point PSNI identify the young person suspected/detected of an offence. Once this has happened, PSNI will assess whether the young person is suitable for YE. If they are assessed as suitable, a file is submitted to PPS with this recommendation. The PPS will assess whether the young person is suitable for diversion or not. At this point, if they are regarded as not suitable, the young person will follow one of two paths:

  1. the PPS will decide there should be no prosecution and therefore no further action or;

  2. the PPS decide to pursue prosecution at court.

Should PPS decide the young person is suitable for the YE process, then PSNI will notify the young person and parent/carer of the date and time of a YE clinic. PSNI and YJA meet with the young person at the clinic. A diversion can be agreed at this point. However, if the young person fails to attend or refuses the diversion, the case is returned to PPS to be reviewed. The case may then be processed for prosecution, or upon further reflection, no further action may be taken.

Figure 1: Simplified Youth Engagement Process

Figure 1: Flow chart describing the youth engagement process

2.3 Youth Engagement Objectives

Youth Engagement was introduced following the conclusion of a pilot exercise in 2013. It is a tripartite initiative across Northern Ireland, involving PSNI, PPS and YJA and its objectives are to:

  1. assist with the diversion away from court, of young people who admit to low-level offences, into a reparative or diversionary process, with the option of support or intervention at an earlier stage;

  2. support young people accused of a crime to make better informed decisions;

  3. enhance the rehabilitative and restorative benefits of the disposal, by ensuring that youth cases are resolved as swiftly as possible;

  4. improve processing times for youth cases that are unsuitable for diversionary action.

2.4 Timely Resolution

Overall, these objectives contribute to speeding up the criminal justice system. This has been a priority for the Department of Justice (DoJ) since the devolution of responsibility for policing and justice in April 2010, both for cases resulting in out-of-court diversionary disposals and for cases dealt with at court.

The efficiency of the criminal justice system is important for victims, witnesses, their families and communities, in terms of building confidence, as well as demonstrating legitimacy of the rule of law. Additionally, early resolution of cases can also help offenders understand the implications of their actions. The timely completion of cases, commensurate with the principles of a fair and just process, contributes to delivery of an effective and efficient justice system.

The Covid-19 pandemic however, impacted on the number of YE clinics that could be held, as well as on other parts of the justice system. That is reflected in the historical numbers reported in this publication.

2.5 About this Report

This bulletin, published annually, presents data on cases relating to young people coming into formal contact with the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland during the year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. It provides detail on those referred for the YE process, alongside information on the time taken for that process to complete and on subsequent outcomes. Detail on the structure of the population concerned is also included. Some comparison has been made with figures from previous years for which this information has been available. Following a change in process in October 2024, a small number of cases which were suitable for the YE process but did not require a YE clinic have been included in the statistics for 2024-25.

Details of data coverage, quality and methodology are detailed in Appendix 1. Data in all tables and charts in the bulletin, along with supplementary data, are available from the DoJ website in the accompanying spreadsheet.

The next update, covering the 12 months to 31 March 2026, will be published in November 2026. A full publication schedule is available on the DoJ website.

3. Findings

3.1 Overview

There were 2,712 cases relating to young people coming into formal contact with the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland during the year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, a decrease of 19.2% from 3,356 in 2023-24.

In 2024-25, PPS assessed 40.0% (1,084) of cases involving young people that were referred to them as suitable for resolution through the YE process and 55.9% (1,515) as not suitable. The figures for 2023-24 were 35.4% (1,189) and 59.6% (1,999) respectively.

At the end of September 2025, when data for 2024-25 were reviewed, 4.2% (113)of cases were still awaiting a decision by PPS on whether they were suitable for YE. This was slightly less than the proportion observed in the previous year (5.0%, 168). (Figure 1 and Tables 1a and 1b in accompanying spreadsheet).

Figure 2: Cases assessed as suitable/not suitable for Youth Engagement by year

Note: Percentages may not total to 100% due to rounding.

3.2 Numbers of Referrals by Gender

Most young people (73.1%, 1,983) coming into formal contact with the justice system in 2024-25 were male1; 26.9% (729) were female. Of all those adjudged suitable for the YE process, males made up 70.4% (763) and females 29.6% (321). Of those adjudged not suitable for YE, males accounted for 74.7% (1,131) and females for 25.3% (384). (Figure 2 and Tables 2a and 2b in the accompanying spreadsheet).

Where a decision as to suitability for YE had been reached, females (45.5%, 321) were proportionately more likely than males (40.3%, 763) to be assessed as suitable. The proportion of females assessed as not suitable was 54.5% (384) and for males 59.7% (1,131).

At the end of September 2025, when data for 2024-25 were reviewed, males made up 78.8% (89 out of a total of 113) of cases where PPS had yet to issue a decision on how these cases were to proceed.

1 Figures for males include a small number of individuals whose gender was unknown or who identified as transgender; separate listing is not possible due to disclosure risk.

Figure 3: Youth Engagement referrals by gender

3.3 Numbers of Referrals by Age

Over two fifths (40.7%, 1,103) of cases in 2024-25 involved young people aged 16 or 17 at the time of their offence (17.3% and 23.3% respectively). The remaining 59.3% (1,609) of cases were made up of those aged from 10 to 15 years. (Figure 3 and Table 3a, 3b and 3c in the accompanying spreadsheet).

Where a decision as to suitability for YE had been taken by PPS, under 16s (48.0%; 743) were more likely to be assessed as suitable for the YE process, than those aged 16 or 17 (32.4%; 341).

In terms of being assessed as not suitable, those aged 16 or 17 made up 46.9% of cases (711), with 17-year-olds making up the largest proportion overall (462, 30.5%).

3.4 Cases assessed as not suitable by PPS

Of the 1,515 cases assessed by PPS as not suitable for progression through the YE process, 44.5% (674) were sent forward for prosecution at court, whereas in 54.5% (826) of the cases, PPS decided that there should be no further action. The remaining 1.0% (15) of cases were assessed as not suitable for YE for reasons unknown or for other reasons, such as the young person agreeing to participate in the Northern Ireland Driver Improvement Scheme. (Table 4 in the accompanying spreadsheet).

Figure 4: Youth Engagement referrals by age

3.5 Outcomes of Youth Engagement Clinics

In 2024-25, 52.1% (565) of the 1,084 cases assessed by PPS as suitable for YE, resulted in a youth conference plan. A further 16.7% (181) of cases resulted in an informed warning and 14.4% (156) in a restorative caution being issued. The comparative figures for these outcomes in 2023-24 were 45.8%, 23.8% and 16.7%, respectively.

The remainder of the cases, were either returned to PPS for further consideration post-clinic (8.6%, 93) or resulted in a decision of no further action being taken (3.5%, 38).

For a further 50 cases (4.6%) the outcome of the YE clinic was pending. The equivalent figure for 2023-24 was 40, (3.4%). (Figure 4 and Table 5 in the accompanying spreadsheet).

Of the 93 cases returned to PPS post-clinic, 87 (93.5%) were recorded as returned to PPS for further decision regarding either prosecution or no further action; in 1 cases (1.1%) the diversion was refused and in 5 (5.4%) the young person did not attend the clinic. (Table 8 in the accompanying spreadsheet).

Figure 5: Outcomes of Youth Engagement Clinics

Youth conference plans (females, 53.6%; males, 51.5%), informed warnings (females, 14.0%; males, 17.8%) and restorative cautions (females, 16.8%; males, 13.4%) were the most common outcomes for both males and females as a result of participation in the YE process in 2024-25.

No further action was the outcome for 2.5% (8) of females, less than that for males (3.9%, 30) in 2024-25.

Regardless of age, the most common outcome for young people going through the YE process in 2024-25 was a youth conference plan (52.1% (565) of all cases). Informed warnings were the second most common outcomes for 10 to 15-year-olds; restorative cautions were the second most common outcomes for 16 and 17-year-olds.

Overall, 8.6% (93) of cases were removed from the YE process post-clinic. Cases involving 15-year-olds had the lowest proportion (5.5%, 11) being removed and 10 to 13-year-olds the highest (10.8%, 35).

No further action was the outcome for 11 cases or less for each of the age groups in 2024-25. Proportionally, this ranged from 1.4% (2) of cases involving 17-year-olds to 5.0% (11) involving 14-year-olds. (Tables 6 to 7 in the accompanying spreadsheet).

3.6 Time Taken for Completion of YE Process

While it is important to examine outcomes for young people coming into formal contact with the justice system, the length of time taken for cases to process through the system, in a sense the efficiency of the criminal justice system, is also important for victims, witnesses, their families and communities, in terms of building confidence, as well as demonstrating legitimacy of the rule of law. Additionally, early resolution of cases can also help young people understand the implications of their actions.

For the above reasons, this report includes information on the time taken for cases to complete the YE process, as well as in relation to the individual constituent stages, detailed opposite. For a variety of reasons cases can take differing times to complete and because of this, it was decided to report both the time taken to process 50% (the median point) and the point at which 80% of cases have been completed.

In 2024-25, the median time taken for cases, i.e. the time for half of such cases, to complete the YE process, from the date an individual was charged or informed to the YE first clinic date, was 77 days. Whilst the median number of days has fallen from 78 in 2020-21 it is still higher than that recorded in 2022-23 and 2023-24 (67 days).

Stages of Process

Stage 1 – Date accused informed to date file submitted to PPS

Stage 2 – Date file submitted to PPS to date of PPS decision

Stage 3 – Date of PPS decision to date of clinic (1st appointment)

End to End – Date ‘accused informed’ to date of clinic (1st appointment)

Figure 6a: Time in days for stages in the Youth Engagement process (median)

In 2024-25, 80% of cases were completed within 170 days (133 days in 2023-24). However, the longest time taken for a case to complete the YE process in this period was 521 days. (Figures 5a and 5b and Tables 9a to 9d in the accompanying spreadsheet).

Figure 6b: Time in days for stages of the Youth Engagement process (80th Percentile)

3.8 Victim Involvement

Where the outcome of a YE clinic is a restorative caution, there is an opportunity for the young person and their parents to meet with the victim and anyone else who has been affected by the crime. Everyone is given a chance to talk about the impact the crime has had on them. There is a signed written record of the meeting, with the young person agreeing to apologise, take part in work to make amends to the victim or community, or go to classes to address their offending behaviour.

In 2024-25, for clinics where the outcome was a restorative caution, there were 190 cases (211 in 2023-24) where a victim was associated with the offence committed. In 13.2% (25) of these cases, the victim or their representative was present. This is an increase of 14 cases from 2023-24 when 5.2% (11) of cases had a victim or their representative present. There was an increase in the number of cases where the victim’s views were obtained and shared with the young person involved by the Youth Diversion Officer (YDO); 105 (55.3%) cases in 2024-25 compared to 95 (45.0%) cases in 2023-24.

In 25 (13.2%) cases, a victim impact statement was shared with the young person concerned, 4 more than in 2023-24 (21; 10.0%). There was a decrease in the number and proportion of cases in which the victim declined to participate in the YE process, from 84 (39.8%) cases in 2023-24 to 35 (18.4%) cases in 2024-25.

The remaining 73 cases in 2024-25 related to offences where there was no victim. (Figure 7 and Table 11 in the accompanying spreadsheet).

Figure 8: Cases with victim/representative involvement (restorative cautions only)

4. Youth Justice Agency Youth Engagement Survey

4.1 About the survey

Youth Justice Agency complete a YE Clinic Satisfaction Survey for both the young people attending the clinics and the parents/carers of the young people. During 2024-25 there were 183 responses from young people and 168 from parent/carers. Those surveyed may not have provided answers to all questions, figures are therefore based on the number of responses for each individual question.

4.2 Young People Survey 2024-25

Of the 183 who responded to the question, 98.9% (181) of young people stated the YE Clinic “helped them understand the choices available following the meeting”. (Figure 8 and Table 12 in the accompanying spreadsheet).

Of the 168 who responded to the question, 100% (168) of parents/carers stated the YE Clinic helped them “understand the choices available to the young person concerned following the meeting”. (Figure 9 and Table 13 in the accompanying spreadsheet).

Figure 9: It (YE Clinic) helped me understand the choices available following the meeting

Figure 10: It (YE Clinic) helped the young person understand the choices available following the meeting

5. Appendix 1: Methodology and Counting Rules

What are we counting?

The figures reported in Tables 1 to 9 of this bulletin relate to cases prosecuted by the PPS on behalf of PSNI, Harbour Police, Airport Constabulary or the National Crime Agency (NCA). The period covered by this bulletin is based on the date of charge (for charge cases) or date accused informed (for summons cases). The data relate to young people aged under 18 at time of offence.

Tables 10 and 11 are based on Youth Engagement clinics which happened within the year 2024-25. After the Youth Justice Agency has engaged with children via a Youth Engagement Clinic, they conduct a satisfaction survey to monitor their services. The survey is issued to both the children and their parents/carers by telephone, post, and in person. The analysis within Tables 12 and 13 of this publication is based on survey responses (not the date of the clinic) collected between April 2024 to March 2025 and completion of the survey is optional.

All tables relate to young people aged under 18 at time of offence. Where an offender has been charged with, or accused of, several offences on the same occasion, only one offence, the principal offence, is counted. The principal offence is generally the most serious offence in terms of the potential penalties in law and is set in each case at the time the file is submitted to PPS from police.

This bulletin does not include cases where young people encountering the police are dealt with by way of an informal out-of-court community resolution. These resolutions allow officers to use their professional judgement and discretion in managing low level and local crimes and are therefore dealt with differently. Information on numbers of community resolution notices issued are published separately by PSNI.

Data source and coverage

The data for Tables 1 to 9 in this bulletin were taken from the Causeway Data Sharing Mechanism (DSM1). They were extracted primarily based on records contained on the Criminal Records Viewer (CRV). The CRV is held on Causeway and utilises data which originates in the PSNI, PPS and from Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS). Causeway is an interconnected information system, launched as a joint undertaking by the Criminal Justice Organisations (CJOs) in Northern Ireland.

Data relating to Youth Engagement clinic dates and outcomes, sourced from the YJA Management Information System, are matched with the information from Causeway, to complete the dataset. Information in relation to legal representation at clinics, as well as in relation to victim involvement, reported in Tables 10 and 11, is sourced from PSNI. Information on satisfaction with the Youth Engagement process, reported in Tables 12 and 13, is sourced from the YJA.

Full details of data relevance, accuracy, timeliness, accessibility, coherence, user need, cost and confidentiality is available in the accompanying background quality report. Details of the data quality checks and processes that DoJ has in place are available in the Quality Assurance of Administrative Data (QAAD) document on the DoJ website.

Data strengths and limitations

Strengths

• Causeway is an integrated messaging system specifically designed to support information sharing between the five main NI Criminal Justice organisations. The information recorded within the individual organisations is used to manage day to day business and to communicate between the other organisations so needs to be highly accurate.

•The system works well and is trusted by the staff who use it. It is reliable and needs minimal maintenance.

•The recording of data on and use of the Youth Justice Case Management System is conducted on an ongoing basis by YJA staff and underpins their case management, so it is important that a high degree of accuracy is maintained.

• The data are sourced from administrative data systems and are a complete record of all relevant cases (i.e. are not based on a sample of cases).

• Processes and systems have been developed and refined over the years to address any quality concerns that emerged and the statisticians have developed a complex and detailed series of validation checks which are applied to the data to ensure any anomalies are corrected.

• Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing or via the OSR website.

Limitations

• The system depends on staff within relevant Criminal Justice organisations inputting details and updating records on their own systems. While there is the potential for problems to occur if details aren’t updated on a timely basis or if input errors occur, the nature of the information make accuracy critical.

• Youth Justice Agency records sit outside Causeway, which may leave some potential for inaccuracy or delay in updating records between the YJA case management system and Causeway.

Interpreting the data

Figures reported relate primarily to the numbers of young people coming into the justice system: whether they are deemed suitable or not suitable for Youth Engagement and the reason why. For those assessed as suitable, some analysis is provided on the outcomes of subsequent Youth Engagement clinics held, alongside a breakdown on the time taken for relevant stages within the process to complete.

The figures reported are based on individual cases however, some young people may, legitimately, be counted more than once in the figures reported. For example, in 2024-25, the 2,712 cases reported relate to 1,659 young people. Where a young person comes into contact with the justice system on more than one occasion, in relation to separate cases, these have been counted separately.

For the purposes of this publication, scheduled clinic dates are taken as those on which the clinic occurred, or which were scheduled but on which the defendant did not attend. They do not include dates which were scheduled but were listed as postponed.

Figures reported in Table 9 relate primarily to the average time taken from the date the young person was charged, or informed they were to be prosecuted, to first date set for the Youth Engagement clinic. The form of average reported on in this bulletin is the median, or the value at which 50 percent of cases were completed. Figures for the time taken to deal with cases at the 80th percentile (the time in which 80% of cases were dealt with) are also reported. The median is used as a measure of average in this report as a relatively small number of cases may have taken a significantly long time. Using the median to find the midpoint in the series avoids any possible skew caused by outlying, longer cases.

Contact Details

Published by: Analytical Services Group, Department of Justice

Lead Statistician: Ivor Graham

Email: statistics.research@justice-ni.gov.uk

This bulletin is available on: Department of Justice website

Feedback on this publication can be provided directly to Analytical Services Group at the email address listed above.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing or via the OSR website.

All content in this report is licensed and available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. To view this licence, go to: Open Government Licence Version 3

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