Controversial community-based restorative justice schemes cannot operate in Northern Ireland without direct police involvement, new British government guidelines today stressed.
A radically overhauled blueprint for how the programmes operate has attempted to allay fears that vigilantes could be given a licence to roam the streets.
Under the new protocols unveiled today anyone convicted of a paramilitary offence since the signing of the 1998 Belfast Agreement will be barred.
Northern Ireland Criminal Justice Minister David Hanson
But former republican and loyalist prisoners could still play a role in the schemes which bring offenders and the victims of neighbourhood crime face to face.
Following a public outcry over the original proposals, with warnings that they would lead to a two-tier police system in districts that refused to recognise the PSNI, the British government has accepted its early guidelines did not get it right.
David Hanson, the Northern Ireland Criminal Justice Minister, said: "Where community based restorative justice schemes operate they must be part of the criminal justice system and must not act, or be perceived to act, as an alternative to the existing policing structures.
"Society would not tolerate officially approved schemes becoming a tool for local paramilitary control and nor will the government."
Because of the extent of the redraft, the new protocol is to go out for a further 12-week consultation period. One of the key changes involves the removal of a provision for schemes to report offences to the Police Service of Northern Ireland through a third party.
Mr Hanson insisted: "The protocol now requires that schemes engage, and have a direct relationship, with police on all matters governed by the protocol.
"The centrality of the police to the way in which schemes operate is non-negotiable."
This demand is likely to provoke resentment in some republican areas where they refuse to endorse or deal with the PSNI.
A total of 15 restorative justice programmes operate in nationalist and republican districts, while another five have been set up in loyalist areas. Any that sign up to the new agreement are expected to receive a favourable assessment when it comes to financial backing.
But Mr Hanson warned: "Any scheme which does not sign up to them will not receive any funding whatsoever from government for community-based restorative justice."
A vetting panel, drawn from representatives of statutory bodies such as the probation board and social services, but not involving the police, will decide who is suitable to work on the schemes.
The Northern Ireland Policing Board has also been approached by the Northern Ireland Office to become involved but has deferred a decision until it receives more information from the authorities.
The panel will consider criminal records and make a case-by-case assessment on those with paramilitary convictions stretching back to before the Belfast Agreement peace deal.