picture on voting

EFRJ Board Candidates 2026

Board Election 2026

Between 2nd and 10th June 2026, members of the European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) will elect five Board members ahead of the forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The Annual General Meeting will take place in Poznań (Poland), 10th June in the evening, followed by the 13th International Conference of the European Forum for Restorative Justice.

Background

The term of the following Board members comes to an end in June, but in case of a first mandate, they can be re-elected for a second term:

First term:

  • Antonio Buonatesta (Belgium) - he decided not to run for a second term
  • Claudia Christen-Schneider (Switzerland) - runs for a second term
  • Jorge Ollero Perán (Spain) - runs for a second term

Second term, Board mandate finishes according to the Constitution:

  • Brunilda Pali (Belgium)
  • Patrizia Patrizi (Italy)

The members staying at the Board are:

  • Lucy Jaffe (UK)
  • Maia Chochua (Georgia)
  • Petra Šach (Czechia)
  • Annegrete Johanson (Estonia)

The voting procedure

Full members of the EFRJ are invited to help shaping the future of the organisation by voting on the board candidates.

Who are the candidates? 

There are ten candidates. Their nominations were approved by Selection Committee. You can see their profiles below. The candidates will not present themselves during the Annual General Meeting (and the voting will start earlier), so please study their materials carefully, so you can prepare yourself for the voting. 

When and where can I vote? 

The voting will start one week before the Annual General Meeting, on 2nd June 2026 at 2 pm CEST and closes during the Annual General Meeting at 10th of June 2026 at 6 pm CEST. The voting will take place online. This allows every full member to participate in voting, even if they cannot attend the Annual General Meeting.

How can I vote? 

Full members will receive instructions for the online voting via email (from the email address: noreply@electionrunner.com) by 2nd June 2026. Please follow the link in the email to vote. 

You may only vote once. After you have voted, the system will not allow you to change your vote or add a new vote. 

Organisational members will received their invitation to vote at the email address registered as their organisation's main email address in our database. 

If you haven't received the email invitation to vote by then, check your Spam box. In case you still do not find it, please contact our Communication Officer at: andreahandl@euforumrj.org

How many candidates can I vote for?

As 5 places are vacant, every EFRJ full member has five votes, this means you may vote for five candidates. You may use 1-5 of your votes. This means you don't need cast all your votes if you don't wish to. You can vote for one, two, three or four candidates only, if you would like to do so. You can vote for maximum 5 candidates.  

How does the vote of organisational members count? 

The vote of organisational members count three times. Organisations do not need to take any additional action, the weight of their votes is automatically added by the online election system. 

I was not able to vote online, can I vote at the AGM in person? 

If you were not able to cast your ballot online, you will have the opportunity to vote on paper during the Annual General Meeting exceptionally. However, please try to opt for the online version, and rely on the paper based option as a last resort only. We ask this because the paper-based voting will be very time-consuming as we will need to check each voters eligibility first, and verify that they haven't voted online yet. 

When are the results announced? 

Results will be announced shortly after the closure of the voting, during the Annual General Meeting

 

With your vote you will influence the future of the EFRJ! 

Claudia is a criminologist, restorative justice practitioner, and founder and president of the Swiss RJ Forum, a servicespecialising in serious harm.

Working at the intersection of research, policy, and practice in Italy and across Europe, Cristina has 18 years of experience has a policy analyst and evaluator.

Eduardo is the Secretary of the Council of Navarre and has always been engaged with the EFRJ, first with his experience as a policy maker.

İdil is a legal academic and mediator with a global perspective, holding law degrees from Istanbul and Tulane Universities and a PhD from Istanbul Bilgi University.

Jorge is lecturer of Philosophy of Law in the University of Granada, Spain. For three years, he was the Director of the Penal Enforcement and Restorative Justice Service of the Government of Navarra.

Paul is an addiction professional, practitioner, clinical supervisor, and educator with over 30 years’
experience working at the intersection of restorative justice, behavioural change, and social inclusion.

Silvia is an Italian criminologist with over 17 years of experience, currently pursuing a PhD at KU Leuven (Belgium) on diversion for children in criminal proceedings across Europe.

Tomáš Horeháj is a lawyer, researcher, and founder and chairperson of ReStart, o.z., a Slovak non-governmental organisation dedicated to the development and promotion of restorative justice.

Tricia is a social worker and senior leader in adult social care, with a career focusing on building fairer, more humane and equitable systems.

Wim is a trainer and facilitator in Ligand, the training and development center of vzw Oranjehuis, a youth care organization in Belgium.