The theme highlighted the relevance of restorative justice when it comes to facing the great challenges of our times. It presented restorative justice as a versatile instrument at our availability that can contribute to ease or resolve conflicts weighing on us. Conflicts that we struggle with, that we find difficult imagining how to tackle. It offers unrecognised ways to approach deeply trenched matters, new clues for starting a dialogue, making connections, building solidarity, restoring justice. It fuels our quest for better ways for living together.
Restorative Justice Week Archive
Previous Years' Celebrations and Campaigns
This page collects the events and campaigns from previous years' Restorative Justice Weeks. Scroll down to get inspired by past Restorative Justice Weeks!
Restorative Justice Week 2023
Repair and reform: restoring dialogue, solidarity & justice in today's societies 19-25 November 2023
What to do?
- Read the Access to Restorative Justice brief to get a good summary of the key issues linked to the topic.
- Join the online campaign, by sharing information (on restorative justice, on the significance of granting equal access to restorative justice, and on current #RJWeek events), and messages! Use the hashtags: #RJWeek #ReleasingThePotentialOfRestorativeJustice #AcccessToRestorativeJustice
- Organise your local event or campaign - and inform us, so we can spread the word!
- As every year, the EFRJ will gather and give visibility to all contributions to the week. Submit your event or campaign details below.
- Check our shared calendar below about the happenings, events and campaigns and join the ones near to you!
Please contact us if you:
- Need advise for organising your Restorative Justice Week event.
- Want to publish your Restorative Justice Week event on our website or other communication channels.
- Want just to inform us about your Restorative Justice Week initiative or have other questions about the this year's Restorative Justice Week or previous celebrations.
Releasing the potential of restorative justice: available, accessible & adaptable!
Restorative Justice Week 2022
20-26 November 2022 - Join the global campaign & celebration !
As the key theme for this year's Restorative Justice Week (#RJWeek, 20-26 November 2022) the EFRJ highlights the significance of 'access to restorative justice', and uses the slogan: "Releasing the potential of restorative justice: available, accessible & adaptable!"
Today hundreds of thousands people affected by harm cannot access the benefits of restorative justice for a number of reasons, and we think this should change.
We invite our members to use this week for celebration, raising awareness and to organise their events or campaigns linked to this topic, to help make the message more recognised!
What to do?
- Read the Access to Restorative Justice brief to get a good summary of the key issues linked to the topic.
- Join the online campaign, by sharing information (on restorative justice, on the significance of granting equal access to restorative justice, and on current #RJWeek events), and messages! Use the hashtags: #RJWeek #ReleasingThePotentialOfRestorativeJustice #AcccessToRestorativeJustice
- Organise your local event or campaign - and inform us, so we can spread the word!
- As every year, the EFRJ will gather and give visibility to all contributions to the week. Submit your event or campaign details below.
- Check our shared calendar below about the happenings, events and campaigns and join the ones near to you!
Please contact us if you:
- Need advise for organising your Restorative Justice Week event.
- Want to publish your Restorative Justice Week event on our website or other communication channels.
- Want just to inform us about your Restorative Justice Week initiative or have other questions about the this year's Restorative Justice Week or previous celebrations.
Restorative Justice Week 2021
21 - 28 November 2021
Protect and Empower the Person Harmed
In 2021 the EFRJ highlights the potential of restorative justice for victims as the key theme of the Restorative Justice Week 2021 (#RJWeek).
Restorative justice processes have a great potential to empower victims and survivors of crime, and to offer them closure. There is more and more understanding of how restorative justice can serve victims of different types of harm, including serious cases. Yet, restorative justice is still not accessible widely to all victims in every country. That is why the EFRJ puts this topic at the heart of the 2021’s Restorative Justice Week campaign.
The international Restorative Justice Week provides a unique opportunity every year to focus public attention on restorative justice, to the benefits it can create for the society, and to bring together communities globally and locally that are committed to address injustices and harm in a humane way.
Communication tips
Download the banner for the Restorative Justice Week 2021 and use it to promote and communicate about your event.
Use #RJWeek and #RJWeek2021 in social media to communicate about your event.
EFRJ Contributions
Day dedicated to | What will happen? | Other relevant events happening (outside the RJWeek) | |
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Saturday 20 | Restorative Justice for Children | If you are curious about the specificities of restorative justice applied in a child-friendly way, take a look at our webpage dedicated to this topic with plenty of information, materials and recommendations | World Children’s Day |
Sunday 21 | Official start of the RJWeek |
Opening the Restorative Justice Week
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Monday 22 |
The significance of Values and Standards in RJ processes | On this day, the EFRJ will launch its "Manual on Restorative Justice Values and Standards for Practice". Between 10 - 11 am. Read more and join here the event. (pre-registration not required) | |
Tuesday 23 | Restorative Justice for Victims of Anti-LGBT and Hate Crime | On this day we will share quotes from victims of anti LGBT+ hate crime that was gathered in the LetsGoByTalking project. | |
Wednesday 24 | Access to Restorative Justice | 5 - 6 pm CET we will have a live keynote talk by Tim Chapman: Victims’ Experiences of Access to and Participation in Restorative Justice: some interim findings from a narrative research project. Registration not required, just join the session here. | |
Thursday 25 | Restorative Justice for Victims of Domestic and Sexual Abuse | On this key topic, the EFRJ will launch the screening of the film "Another Justice" (only for REstART 21 registered participants - registration is free of charge) and we invite you to don't miss the CJPE Webinar on "Managing Sexual Offenders" happening on 30 November. | International Day of the Elimination of the Violence Against Women (UN) |
Friday 26 | The Significance of the Collaboration with the Judiciary in Offering Restorative Justice | We will share the updated information from our RE-JUSTICE project and inspiring video excerpts produced in the project. | |
Saturday 27 | RJ Responses to Traumas Caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic | Since the beginning of the pandemic, several events and initiatives had been organised by the EFRJ and other restorative justice services to discuss how to adapt restorative justice practices and skills to these special moments we are living. We are launching a collection of materials related to this issue and we are making publicly available the recording of our webinar "A restorative city in times of a pandemic" (May, 2021). | |
Sunday 28 | Official end of the Restorative Justice Week | Looking back at the events of the RJWeek. Did you attend any of the events? Watched a film? Read an article released for the week? Share your thoughts with us or directly on social media (with using the #RJWeek hashtag!) |
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Tuesday 30 | Criminal Justice Platform Europe webinar with CEP on the Council of Europe (CoE) Recommendation regarding the assessment, management, and reintegration in the community of individuals accused or convicted of sexual offences. |
Little History
It all started in 1975 in England, where prison chaplains launched a day to remember incarcerated people, the ‘Prisoner’s Sunday’. The idea was then spread in other countries and 20 years later it become the ‘Prisoner’s Week’.
Finally, in 1996 Canada expanded the prisoner’s week into the ‘Restorative Justice Week: Community, Victims, and Prisoners’, later shortened to ‘Restorative Justice Week’.
Nowadays, the International RESTORATIVE JUSTICE WEEK (#RJWeek) takes place every year all over Europe and beyond. The European Forum for Restorative Justice joins the annual international campaign since 2000 with initiatives organised by the Secretariat and by sahring information on events launched by our members!
In 2021 we already celebrate the 25th Restorative Justice Week!
The ‘Prisoner’s Week’ is still celebrated and in Belgium the national prison week and our international Restorative Justice Week are celebrated with a good collaboration between the EFRJ and local organisers working in prison settings: for example, in 2017 their theme is about family members of prisoners, something where restorative justice can have a proper say.
RJ week 2020
Next restorative justice week will be the 16-22 November 2020!
Please contact Bálint Juhasz if you:
- Need advise for organising your RJ Week event.
- Want to disseminate your RJ Week activity within our network.
- Want to publish your RJ Week event in our event page.
- Want just to inform us about your RJ Week initiative or have other questions about the RJ Week.
Restorative Justice Week 2020
15 - 22 November 2020
The international Restorative Justice Week provides a unique opportunity every year to focus public attention on restorative justice, to the benefits it can create for the society, and to bring together communities globally and locally that are committed to address injustices and harm in a humane way.
RJ week 2019
The European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) launched 6 short videos (one for each day of the RJ week), with interviews with some of our Board members responding to the question “Why does RJ matters?“. You can watch them here:
Tim Chapman
Roberto Moreno
Patrizia Patrizi
Edit Törzs
Bart Claes
Annemieke Wolthuis
Also, the EFRJ published a booklet about environmental justice that you can find here.
Booklet "Environmental justice: restoring the justice"
The European Forum for Restorative Justice organised a series of activities bringing together arts, justice and storytelling. These activities were not only for passively experiencing and ‘consuming’ stories, but also for sharing and creating them, such as a master class on theatre as a restorative tool, a cartoon workshop and a digital storytelling workshop.
Read the stories about RJ we collected from all around Europe and beyond!