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About the Forum

Membership

• Membership categories
• Membership application
• Membership fees

Membership categories

According to article 14 of the constitution there are two categories of membership: full members (with voting rights) and associate members (without voting rights). Applicants for membership must indicate which category they wish to belong to.

The following are eligible to be members of the Forum: individuals, governmental or other statutory organisations and non-governmental organisations, who support the general aim of the Forum.

Advantages of membership:

• You will have a voice in the decision-making within the Forum.
• Three times a year you will receive the paper-version of the Forum’s newsletter, and this at least one month before the on-line version of the newsletter is posted on this web-site.
• Through the networking of the Forum you will be able to get in contact with colleagues from all around Europe.
• Once a year you will receive a directory with contact details for all the members of the Forum.
• You will receive a financial reduction when the Forum organises a conference or other activities.
• Through your participation in the Forum you will get informed of recent developments in the restorative justice field and you are able to stimulate policy developments at an international level.
• You are invited to take active part in the Forum’s activities by joining one of the committees.
• You will receive the Forum’s newsflashes, keeping you up-to-date on recent developments.
• You will get a password giving you access to the Forum’s on-line Discussion forum.
• You are free to contact the Secretariat when you are looking for specific information or help.

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Membership application

Individuals or organisations who wish to apply for membership should either fill-out the on-line registration form or print out the registration form and send it back to the Chair of the Forum at the address of the Secretariat.

Organisational members need to appoint someone from within their organisation to represent it in the activities of the Forum. The mandate, appointing that person as the representative and duly signed by the proper authority within the organisation, should be sent together with the application form.

Membership fees

Membership fees are payable for the period between January 1 and December 31 of any year. If membership application dates from after June 1 in any year, the fee is half the full membership fee for that year.

There is no difference in membership fee between full and associate members.

There are four categories of membership fees:

1. Individuals: 40 Euro.
2. Local organisations: 120 Euro. A local organisation is an organisation that, for example, functions at the level of a municipality.
3. Regional, national and international non-governmental organisations: 175 Euro. A regional organisation will deliver services at the level of a province or a region. A national organisation has in its mandate the intention to service a whole country, and an international organisation has a clear international mandate.
4. Regional, national and international governmental organisations: 600 Euro.

If you wish to be considered for a partial or full waiver of the fee, you must apply in writing to the Chair who will decide on a case-by-case basis. Here you can find the criteria for application:

• All members can apply for waivers.
• The application must be sent to the Forum on or before 31 March in the year for which the waiver is requested.
• The applicant must explain why a waiver is being requested, and why it is important to continue membership.
• In general, governmental organisations will not be granted a waiver. However, if a governmental organisation finds itself in an exceptional situation, a waiver can be requested. The governmental applicant must present a case, and give good reasons as to why there are issues in paying the membership fee, and why it is important for them to remain a member of the European Forum.
• The applicants should, if possible, be asked to propose a payment-in-kind to the Forum. This could alleviate the lack of income to the Forum when waivers are granted, especially to organisations.
• Members can only be granted a waiver - fully or partly - in two consecutive years.
• A member can again apply for a waiver after having paid the membership fee at least three years in a row.
• The Chair decides upon the waiver applications, but the applications will be presented to the executive committee. If the Chair is not available, other members of the executive commitee or the vice-chair can decide.