There is "no place" for neighbourhood restorative justice schemes which refuse to co-operate with the police, an MPs' report, published yesterday, has found.
The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has warned in its latest report that community justice initiatives must have police involvement.
Restorative justice schemes seek to intervene at a local level to address low-level criminality and anti-social behaviour problems before they escalate into something more serious.
The idea has earned approval in a number of countries, but the issue has become a contentious one in the debate over Northern Ireland's policing.
There are currently two such schemes - one operating in loyalist parts of greater Belfast and one based in nationalist west Belfast. Community Restorative Justice Ireland (CRJ), which runs 15 groups in nationalist areas of the North, has been criticised because it does not liaise with the police as a matter of course.
Unlike the loyalist Northern Ireland Alternatives scheme, CRJ has no police members on its governing board. Victims who call on CRJ do not have to involve the PSNI.