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Organization: European Forum for Restorative Justice
The following information may be cited or quoted as long as the source is accurately mentioned and the words are not taken out of context.
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Postal address of organization/institution

Secretariat of the European Forum for Restorative Justice, Hooverplein 10 , 3000 Leuven , Belgium

E-mail address of organization/institution

info@euforumrj.org

Website address of organization/institution

http://www.euforumrj.org

Telephone of organization/institution

Tel. +32 16 32 54 29

PRIORITIES: All of the organization's domains of culture of peace activity

HUMAN RIGHTS
UNDERSTANDING, TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY
FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

TOP PRIORITY: The organization's most important culture of peace activity

HUMAN RIGHTS

PARTNERSHIPS AND NETWORKS: What partnerships and networks does your organization participate in, thus strengthening the global movement for a culture of peace?

There are numerous partners on particular projects that may be found on the website

ACTIONS: What activities have been undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and nonviolence during the ten years of the Decade? If you already made a report in 2005, your information from 2005 will be included in the 2010 report.

Building restorative justice in Europe. Cooperation between the public, policy makers, practitioners and researchers' was the title of the fifth conference of the European Forum, which was held in Verona in April 2008.

A substantial part of the conference was devoted to the AGIS project "Restorative justice: an agenda for Europe". In addition to presenting and discussing the difficulties encountered in Southern Europe to consolidate the implementation of restorative justice and their possible answers, the need and possibilities for further regulation and action in this field on behalf of the European Union were discussed.

* *

The fourth conference of the European Forum, Restorative justice and beyond - an agenda for Europe, intended to broaden the perspective on restorative justice whilst retaining the core topic of 'justice'. In this conference the European Forum, for the first time, explored in detail what lies beyond the 'classical' application of restorative justice.
The conference covered five major themes:

1. restorative justice, peace-making and peace-building;

2. community mediation, working towards justice in a broad sense - beyond the intervention of criminal law agencies;

3. dealing with more severe crimes in a restorative way: exploring the place for restorative justice programmes that are not restricted to pre-trial diversion of petty offences;

4. the school mediation movement is increasingly widespread, attempting to handle conflicts beyond - or rather before - the law according to the same principles as restorative justice, and beyond the traditional offender orientation that marks the criminal justice system;

5. good practice for restorative justice, which is vital to establish a solid basis for the new approach to justice.

* *

On 14-16 October 2004, the Forum organised its third biennial conference, "Restorative justice in Europe: Where are we heading?" in Budapest, Hungary. The conference mainly looked at the consequences of the increased implementation of restorative justice. Indeed, restorative justice is becoming fashionable with politicians and the criminal justice system in several European countries. Why has it suddenly attracted so much interest? Should we welcome it or treat it with caution? Are there specific societal factors that favour restorative justice? The conference reviewed the present situation in a European context, but also considered potentially positive and negative effects when restorative justice is being embraced by the establishment.

217 people from 35 different European and non-European countries participated in this conference, making it the best attended conference that the Forum has organised up till now. More than 50 Central and Eastern Europeans could benefit from a waiver of the registration fee. They were invited to the conference in the framework of the AGIS 2 project, Meeting the challenges of introducing victim-offender mediation in Central and Eastern Europe.

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On 10-12 October 2002, the Forum organised its second biennial conference, "Restorative justice and its relation to the criminal justice system", in Oostende, at the Belgian coast. This conference brought together some 180 people from all around Europe to discuss the modes of co-operation between the criminal justice system and restorative justice practices. The conference focused on the perception of restorative justice practices by different agencies of the criminal justice system and on the way these practices can have an impact on the different stages of the criminal justice process. The relationship between the criminal justice system and restorative justice practices was explored at the different stages of the criminal justice process and from the viewpoint of its respective protagonists: the police, the state prosecutors, the judges, the prison and other agencies involved in the implementation of (non-) custodial sentences.

PROGRESS: Has your organization seen progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence in your domain of action and in your constituency during the second half of the Decade?

Progress has been made over the past 10 years in that most European countries now have a legislative framework for the provision of restorative justice services for people affected by youth crime.

OBSTACLES: Has your organization faced any obstacles to implementing the culture of peace and nonviolence? If so, what were they?

The biggest obstacle is securing adequate funding for all the work that needs within our domain.  We do not have the resources to the demand.

PLANS: What new engagements are planned by your organization in the short, medium and long term to promote a culture of peace and nonviolence?

): In the short term we aim to secure funding through engagement with European Institutions.  In the medium term we aim to support initiatives at local, national and regional events that promote the use of restorative justice.  In the long term we want every victim of a crime in Europe to be able to access a restorative justice service if they so wish.

GLOBAL MOVEMENT: How do you think the culture of peace and nonviolence could be strengthened and supported at the world level??

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Organization: European Forum for Restorative Justice

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