Policy Matters in Restorative Justice

In the past 10 years, several international legal and policy instruments have been published to support the use of restorative justice in criminal justice matters. Starting from the adoption of the EU Victims Directive in 2012, the first binding EU legislation  defining and informing about high quality restorative justice services supporting and protecting victims of crime, until the Council of Europe Venice Declaration in 2021, unanimously adopted by the Ministries of Justice of the CoE, reinforcing the CoE Recommendation in 2018 dedicated to the role of restorative justice in criminal matters, the restorative justice field has rapidly advanced also in its practices. Indeed, the areas of application of restorative justice within the criminal justice system have expanded to the different stages of criminal procedures as well as to the most complex and serious crimes, such as gender-based violence, child abuse and violent extremism. Despite the policy developments and innovative practices supported by evidence-based research, restorative justice remains under-used for different reasons impacting access to these services, such as lack of awareness and cooperation with potential referring bodies (e.g. police, victim support services, judicial authorities) and lack of well-funded high quality restorative justice services in all countries.

This international seminar aims at creating a bridge between policies and practices in the field of restorative justice. The focus is twofold:

• Discussing how policy can support the development of restorative justice practices, institutionally and concretely, at the regional, national and international level;
• Reflecting on other emerging policy areas, beyond those directly related to restorative justice, that focus on critical areas of application for restorative justice (e.g. gender-based violence; polarisation and hate; racism; links with victims support, probation and prison work).

The programme will include plenaries and parallel workshop sessions. Plenaries will provide the “state of the art” in terms on international legal and policy instruments on restorative justice and the policy work of the European Forum for Restorative Justice (including the European Restorative Justice Policy Network established in 2018 and the project Restorative Justice Strategies for Change started in 2019). Parallel workshop sessions will be dedicated to emerging policy areas and specific practices relevant for access to high quality restorative justice services, facilitated by representatives of our Working Groups and Committees.

In order to plan your trip accordingly, please find below a draft agenda of the 1.5 day seminar (incl. Annual General Meeting of the EFRJ membership). The event includes plenary sessions as well as parallel workshops. 

The European Forum for Restorative Justice is known for creating a space for exchange and discussions between policy makers, academics, legal professionals and practitioners dedicated to the field of restorative justice. The 12th international seminar of the EFRJ will be dedicated to restorative justice policies, their impact on practice and their links to other criminal justice policies. Reflections and discussions will focus on practice developments, quality standards (for practice and training), legislation (regional, national and international), interagency cooperation (including relationship/ trust building with relevant stakeholders), awareness raising (with the public as well as with interested professionals), research (particularly data collection and evaluation), mostly within the criminal justice system (but other areas can also be explored). 

The deadline for submitting a workshop proposal was 20 March 2023. In case you missed this deadline, you can still submit your proposal until 20 April to be included in the waiting list in case of cancellations: you will be informed by the beginning of May about the status of your application. Please remember that all presenters must register to the seminar.

Registrations are open until 1 June 2023, but can be closed earlier in case the maximum number of participants is reached. Early bird registration is offered until 15 April 2023. The registration fee includes participation to the event, materials and meals. Participants organise and cover their travel and accommodation. 

Members: Login to the website with your member's credentials to receive the automatic discount. Click here to know more about the EFRJ membership, or get in touch with Rik Defrère.

Students below 27 years old who are members of the EFRJ since June 2022 or earlier can benefit of a special fee. First comes, first served-policy applies for maximum 8 students. Login with your credentials to receive the automatic discount for student members.

Please note that the registration is complete only once the payment is received. Online payment (e.g. via credit card, PayPal, iDeal, Bancontact) will be processed by the secure online payment provider Mollie. If you wish to pay via bank transfer, please use the bank details below (subject line: Pamplona 2023 + Your Full Name) and make the payment within 3 working days after your registration. In case of international payments, please indicate ‘Shared Costs (SHA)’ to distribute the costs.

European Forum for Restorative Justice
IBAN: BE35 4310 7636 5137
BIC KREDBEBB
KBC Bank, Havenlaan 2, 1080 Brussels

By the beginning of June, registered participants will be asked additional information about their participation (e.g. dietary requests, special needs).

Waivers to the fee:

The EFRJ will grant about 5 (full/partial) waivers to participants for whom it is financially difficult to attend the seminar. Applicants must be member of the EFRJ since June 2022 or earlier. Full waivers cover the full registration fee; partial waivers give a discount. Transport and accommodation costs are not covered by the waivers. 
Please submit your application before 15 March 2023. The main criteria for the selection are: experience, profession, motivation, country representation. We will evaluate each request and inform you about the results by 25 March 2023. In case of negative response, the early bird fee applies. 

Cancellation policy: 

If you cancel your registration to the Seminar before 15 May 2023, you will receive a refund of 70% of your registration fee. After this date, reimbursement is no longer possible. This cancellation policy includes possible travel bans due to the impact of a pandemic, with the only exception that the deadline for cancellation is postponed to 14 June 2023 for those participants who can submit official documents proving that their cancellation is due to a travel ban. The EFRJ is not responsible for other costs due to a possible travel ban: we advise that you ensure that your travel bookings, such as flights and accommodation, include cancellation policies. In case the EFRJ will be obliged to cancel the full event due to circumstances out of its control (i.e. due to travel bans to Spain), you will receive a 100% refund of the registration fee. 

The seminar will take place in the CIVICAN Cultural Center (address: Av. de Pío XII, 2, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain).

Why Pamplona?

In 2023, Spain will hold the EU presidency. Our local host is a public service, part of the Justice Department of the region of Navarra, in the North of Spain. Navarra has a long experience in restorative justice. Together with the Basque Country and Catalonia, Navarra is one of the leaders in this field in Spain, although it is not as widely known. Once approved by its Parliament, Navarra will be the first Spanish region to have a specific Law on Restorative Justice (and probably the first one in Europe with regard to Restorative Practices). The public service manages around 700 in-court restorative justice cases per year (20% of all Spanish cases). It also conducts interventions in the prison system and in the community and it participates in national and international policy work.
The local hosting team is coordinated by EFRJ Board member Jorge Ollero. The seminar is financially supported by the Justice Programme of the European Commission and by the Penal Enforcement and Restorative Justice Service of the Government of Navarra.

Transport:

You may travel to Pamplona by plane, bus and/or train. 
By plane, the nearest airport is in the village of Noain (6 km from the city centre). Other potential airports are: Vitoria (101 km), Biarritz (128 km), Bilbao (170 km), Zaragoza (172 km), Madrid (407 km) and Barcelona (437 km). From these airports you can take a train or bus to Pamplona.
The train can be reserved on the Renfe website. Bus tickets are available for purchase at: La Burundesa (from Bilbao or Vitoria), Conda (from San Sebastián, Madrid, Zaragoza or Biarritz) or Vibasa (from Barcelona). More info here. 

Accommodation:

Pamplona offers a variety of different accommodation options (see for example www.booking.com, www.airbnb.com). The EFRJ organising team and speakers will be staying at the hotel Tres Reyes (address: Jardines de la Taconera, Pamplona). To take advantage of special rates and conditions (Double room single use: 115 EUR/ night /// Double room and use: 132 EUR/ night), you will have to send an email to reserv@hotel3reyes.com, referring to the RESTORATIVE JUSTICE SEMINAR, with all the details of the reservation. The hotel will confirm reservations according to their availability; credit card information will be necessary. The EFRJ is not responsible for these room reservations. 

Touristic tip:

For those planning their holidays immediately after the seminar, Pamplona will host its famous "running of the bulls" during the the San Fermín festival (6-14 July).