Working Group on Restorative Justice and Transitional Justice

This Working Group focuses on bridging the gap between the fields of restorative and transitional justice. It explores the role of restorative principles in addressing large-scale conflicts, mass-victimisation, and extreme violence. 

The working group aims to advance the application of restorative justice in conflict-affected and post-conflict settings. Building on existing scholarship and practice, it seeks to foster a shared understanding of how restorative justice can contribute meaningfully to the development of social cohesion and just relations in these situations.
Despite the broadening scope of both fields, the overlap and interplay of restorative justice and transitional justice remains underexplored. This working group will address this gap by promoting an integrated approach to justice that prioritises social cohesion, relational equity, and community reintegration. The objective is to deepen the understanding and influence of restorative justice within transitional frameworks, particularly where it can support sustainable peace and justice processes and societal healing.

• Transitional Justice (TJ): A set of judicial and non-judicial measures implemented in societies transitioning from conflict or authoritarian rule. These include criminal prosecutions, memory and truth-seeking initiatives, reparations, institutional reform and measures to ensure non-recurrence. 
• Harm in Post-Conflict Settings: Beyond direct victims and perpetrators, harm extends to institutions, communities, and societal structures, necessitating holistic approaches to healing, social cohesion and rebuilding trust.

February 2025 – June 2027

• Subindra Bogati (Nepal) 
• Kerry Clamp (UK) 
• Pierre Druart (Belgium/Germany) 
• Beatriz Eugenia Mayans Hermida (The Netherlands) 
• Noémi Lévy-Aksu (Turkey) 
• María Cielo Linares (Colombia)
• Jennifer Llewellyn (Canada
• Louise Mallinder (Northern Ireland) 
• Kieran McEvoy (Northern Ireland) 
• Stephan Parmentier (Belgium) 
• Carl Stauffer (USA) 
• Camilo Umaña (Colombia) 
• Zoé Vautard (France/International)
• Estelle Zinsstag (UK) 
• Secretariat Representative: Laura Hein, EFRJ Policy Officer

Over the next two years, the Working Group aims to: 

• Develop practical outputs that can inform research, policy and practice and provide meaningful support to those affected by conflict.
• Strengthen connections between restorative and transitional justice scholars and practitioners, developing a shared framework for applying restorative justice in transitional justice contexts.

We will achieve this by:

• Fostering a community of practice that pushes the boundaries of both academic scholarship and policymaking, ensuring that a robust and progressive understanding of restorative justice evolves to address the complexities of conflict-affected settings. 
• Hosting regular virtual meetings and annual in-person workshops at EFRJ events to facilitate knowledge exchange and collaborative research.
• Organising a summer school under the EFRJ umbrella to educate and build capacity for professionals on restorative justice applications in transitional situations.
• Coordinating research that maps restorative justice interventions in conflict-affected regions and offering policy recommendations.
• Developing policy guidance on integrating restorative justice into security, peacebuilding and reconciliation processes.

This working group builds on previous European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) initiatives, including the recent roundtable on restorative and transitional justice and the conference on restorative justice in dark times (Tallinn, June 2024). These events highlighted key peacekeeping efforts in conflict-affected nations such as Colombia, Israel-Palestine, and Russia-Ukraine, forming the foundation for this group's focus on deepening the understanding and utility of restorative justice principles in conflict-affected settings.

• Aertsen, Ivo, Jana Arsovska, Holger-C. Rohne, Marta Valiñas, and Kris Vanspauwen, eds. Restoring Justice after Large-Scale Violent Conflicts. London: Willan, 2008.
• Clamp, Kerry, ed. Restorative Justice in Transitional Settings. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016.
• Clamp, Kerry. Restorative Justice in Transition. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2013.
• Eriksson, Anna. Justice in Transition: Community Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland. Cullompton: Willan, 2009.
• Parmentier, S., & Umaña, C. (2020). Sociology of transitional justice: global and comparative perspectives. In Research Handbook on the Sociology of Law (pp. 370-384). Edward Elgar Publishing.