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Connecting People to Restore Just Relations

Why restorative justice matters?

"Restorative justice matters because respect for human dignity matters, solidarity within diverse societies matter, justice matters and truth matters." - Watch Tim Chapman (former Chair of the EFRJ Board) outlining the significance of restorative justice for our societies today in the first part of our short video series. 

Restorative Justice is an approach of addressing harm or the risk of harm through engaging all those affected in coming to a common understanding and agreement on how the harm or wrongdoing can be repaired and justice achieved.
The European Forum for Restorative Justice aims to help establish and develop victim-offender mediation and other restorative justice practices. Every person in Europe should have the right of access to restorative justice services, at any time and in any case.
Want to learn more? Follow these links.

On the morning of April the 2nd 2024, a 12-year old boy prepared to go to school in the city of Vantaa, Finland. Only that this day would not going to be like the other days. This morning, he would take a small handgun with him...  
Starting from a recent incident of a school shooting in Finland committed by a child under the age of criminal responsibility, Heidi Jokinen discusses the role of alternative dispute resolution methods, in particular restorative justice in cases that involve children. 

The i-Restore 2.0 project (2022–2024) continues from where the i-Restore project (2019–2021) finished. The project, carried out in Greece, Estonia, the Netherlands and Romania, underlines the importance of empowering children and young people, and about doing that in a safe environment. By Heidi Jokinen, Sofia Vasileiadou, and Kim Magiera.

Tackling child sexual abuse in general introduces a demanding challenge within the justice system, where the best interests of the child must be of prime importance. By focusing on it in the justice process, authorities can uphold their duty to protect and advocate for the rights of the most vulnerable members of society. In addition to criminal proceedings, restorative justice should be an option for such cases. By Aila Kara and Anastasia Katsimpeli. 

EFRJ event
training

Starting from September 2024, the EFRJ Secretariat launches a series of webinars, awareness campaigns (such as the international Restorative Justice Week and art-related events), training offers, and much more! Many activities are offered online for free, while others may happen in-person for paying participants.

call

During the Summer 2024, the EFRJ launched two surveys to collect data from our restorative justice field. One is for those working with women victims of gender-based violence (deadline to respond: 1 September), and one is for those experienced in hate crime and/or systemic violence (deadline to respond: 13 October).

call
update on the organisation

The call for hosting EFRJ events in 2026-2027 is now open, you can send your proposal by end September 2024. We seek for organisational members, or groups of individual members, who wish to take up the challenge to co-organise with us our next conference, seminar, summer school or other events!