The European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) organised a 2-day international restorative justice (RJ) symposium (Bilbao, Basque country, Spain, 5-6 June) on the newly adopted CoE Recommendation on RJ in criminal justice matters, including many interactive sessions for practitioners, policymakers and researchers to actively engage in the discussion. Before the event, the EFRJ membership met for its Annual General Meeting on 4 June evening.
In October 2018, the Council of Europe adopted the most advanced international legal instrument in the field of restorative justice: the Recommendation concerning restorative justice in criminal matters, based on the revision of the previous Recommendation on penal mediation. On the same year, the EFRJ launched the European Restorative Justice Policy Network to support national policymakers in need of advice and assistance to implement such Recommendation.
The Recommendation is very progressive because it advocates for the use of restorative justice in all stages of criminal procedures and in all types of crimes. This raises endless possibilities and challenges at the same time, and we need to ask important questions and share our experience on both.