The Conservatives have again pressed the British government for an assurance that people with terrorist convictions or a record of paramilitary involvement will be barred from community restorative justice (CRJ) schemes in the North.
Justice minister David Hanson is due to publish his final proposals for the operation of CRJ schemes dealing with "low level crime" in local communities before the end of the month.
The Northern Ireland Policing Board rejected Mr Hanson's original draft guidelines published last December, and it is understood the PSNI is still arguing for stringent vetting procedures for the personnel involved.
In a letter to Northern Secretary Peter Hain, the Conservative Northern Ireland spokesman David Lidington has endorsed the view of PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde that "to be a player in community restorative justice you have to be a person who has a standing within the community" and "in the sense that you should not have substantial previous convictions; you should not be associated with paramilitary groups".
Mr Lidington also records his agreement with Mr Hanson's written parliamentary statement of May 25th saying it was "essential that the guidelines should set the necessary high standards expected of any organisations seeking to play a role within the criminal justice system".
Mr Lidington asks Mr Hain to confirm the new guidelines "will stipulate that persons with terrorist convictions, including those released on licence under the Belfast Agreement, will be specifically barred from taking part in CRJ schemes, and that this bar will also apply to people about whom there is intelligence of past or present involvement with a paramilitary organisation".