Restorative justice is about people acting together to resolve their conflicts and to find a way to set wrongdoing right by repairing the harm incurred. It builds on the cooperation between different professions and institutions supporting the efforts of the stakeholders. Moreover, for the restorative justice movement to gain momentum and to become ingrained in society, an understanding and accepting attitude of the wider public, including the media, is needed. This conference therefore invited participants to take a closer look at the practices and the structures of cooperation between the major actors in this field.
A substantial part of the conference was devoted to the AGIS project “Restorative justice: an agenda for Europe”. Next 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.
