Probation Board for Northern Ireland
The Probation Board is a Non Departmental Public Body (NDPB) of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which is a new Northern Ireland Department which came into existence on 12 April 2010 and was established by the Department of Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2010. It has a range of devolved policing and justice functions, set out in the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions) Order 2010.
PBNI’s purpose is to:
"protect the public by working with the Courts, other Agencies and Partners to reduce reoffending and integrate offenders successfully back into the community."
We employ more than 400 people and over half of these are Probation Officers based in more than 30 offices all over Northern Ireland working directly in frontline services to manage offenders.
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; and
•to provide reports for Life Sentence Review Commissioners.
PBNI provides programmes for offenders sentenced to community supervision, including community service, in order to reduce reoffending and to protect the public.
For more information on the Probation Board for Northern Ireland, please go to www.pbni.org.uk.