Youth Engagement Statistics for Northern Ireland, April 2024 to March 2025

Date published: 17 December 2025

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 (YE) process, alongside information on the time taken for the YE process to complete and on subsequent outcomes.

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.

Age and Gender

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

Youth Engagement Process

• Youth Conference was the most common outcome (52.1%, 565) for those completing the Youth Engagement process (Note: 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).
• 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'.