The new Recommendation on Restorative Justice in Criminal Matters adopted by the Council of Europe on 3 October 2018 opens new possibilities for the use of RJ in criminal matters and is considered as “the most advanced international document” in the field of RJ. The following article is written by Ian, a Lecturer in Criminology at Maynooth University who has studied the implementation of restorative policing, public attitudes towards restorative policing and the impact of sentencing guidelines. Ian worked as a Scientific Expert for the Council of Europe, with whom he drafted the new Recommendation. In his article he explains the background to and content of the new Recommendation which ‘provides us with an opportunity to engage European governments and professionals working in criminal justice at all levels on the development of restorative justice.’

• Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)8 of the Committee of Ministers to member States concerning restorative justice in criminal matters

• MARDER Ian (2018), “The Council of Europe Recommendation CM/ Rec(2018)8 concerning restorative justice in criminal matters: an opportunity for progress”, European Forum for Restorative Justice Newsletter, (19) 5-6

Restorative Justice (RJ) awareness campaign launched  by

the  Center for the Study of Crime (CESC)

in collaboration with

Katerina Soulou

PhD candidate Aix-Marseille University

European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) Board member

Athens, 17-24 November 2019