Our history
– 2013, Opening
RJ4All Europe is the child of the Restorative Justice for All International Institute, which was founded in London by Dr. Theo Gavrielides, its current Director. The institute was created as a response to a global need for bottom-up, community action that would address poverty and power abuse through the values and practices of restorative justice. RJ4All is now a world leader in supporting local and international communities to have a voice in justice and public affairs, and help heal harm at the individual, organisational and state levels. We are Europe’s largest restorative justice network and the only independent publisher dedicated to publishing peer reviewed research on restorative justice. The Institute provides certified trainings and online courses and is a member of numerous international advisory boards.
– 2023 , We’re in Europe!
RJ4All Europe is the leading European non-profit international institute with expertise in advancing community cohesion and human rights through restorative justice. With two offices in Cyprus and the UK, we have members from all EU states and over 60 other countries.
RJ4All Europe has a vision of a world that embraces the restorative justice values of power sharing, fairness, equality, dignity and respect, and where power abuse is rooted out. We pursue our vision by using the power of dialogue, education, sports and art, as well as the practices of restorative justice .
RJ4All Europe has a mission to address poverty and advance equality, community cohesion and human rights. We pursue our mission by delivering social justice and poverty relief projects, free skills-development and educational programmes, youth clubs, intercultural and awareness raising workshops, internships and high-quality volunteering opportunities.
At RJ4All Europe, we strongly believe that social justice cannot be achieved through laws and structured systems alone. The UNDP, UNICEF and UN Women all agree with us as they estimated that in the majority of UN member states, 70% of all disputes are dealt with through informal justice.
Local communities are stepping up to claim ownership, or at least demands joint custody, of justice and criminal justice. It is within this transitional global and political framework that RJ4All Europe exists, aiming to create a global peace movement for social change.
RJ4All Europe was founded by Dr. Theo Gavrielides, one of the world’s leading experts in restorative justice. The NGO was founded upon his maximalist vision of restorative justice as a global social movement that brings balance to the scales of justice, while amplifying community voice.
RJ4All Europe is the child of the Restorative Justice for All International Institute. Also founded by Dr. Gavrielides, the institute is now recognised as one of the world’s leading authorities in the delivery, evaluation, research and scrutiny of restorative justice. Based in London, the institute has been working for over a decade with harmed and harming parties, communities and governments to provide effective interventions and an alternative narrative to justice.
A global movement requires partnership working with like-minded organisations. As the UK left the European Union, the RJ4All International Institute remained resolute in supporting European societies, governmental structures, NGOs and citizens in achieving equality and community cohesion through restorative justice.
At RJ4All Europe, we do what it “says on the tin”. We want to make restorative justice accessible throughout Europe. Community voice has been getting louder and now, the powerful have no other option, but to listen. RJ4All Europe acts as a conduit and a mediator between the powerful (such as governments, decision makers, regional and international fora) and communities by providing voice, representation and bottom-up communication routes. Our founding value of dialogue directs us that our negotiations are carried out in the spirit of brotherhood/ sisterhood and peace.
Cyprus, where RJ4All Europe is based, remains divided since Turkey’s invasion in 1974. We strongly believe that restorative justice initiatives such as Truth and Reconciliation Commissions can help repair some of the harm done including the intergeneration trauma that has been inflicted on all Cypriot communities. We believe that a community-led restorative justice dialogue that is detached from politics and vested interests can be the way forward for peace, restoration and healing. We have seen restorative justice work in other places where inter-community conflict led to suffering, power abuse and even genocide.
We believe that we can build a better world by working locally and nationally in Cyprus, and internationally through the redistribution of power.
We do this by using the values and practices of restorative justice including: power sharing, fairness, equality, dignity and respect. The means that we use are structured around restorative justice dialogue, educational, poverty relief and social action programmes, and focus on achieving social justice for all.
Moreover, we deliver restorative justice interventions and evaluations. We have expertise in complex cases such as hate incidents, sexual abuse and gender-based violence, youth violence and violent radicalisation. RJ4All Europe also has three additional arms: RJ4All Publications (publishing arm), RJ4All Sports (fitness arm) and RJ4All ecourses (training arm).
RJ4All Europe is the leading international restorative justice network, and is a Continuous Professional Development course provider. Its publishing arm, RJ4All Publications, is one of the world’s leading publishers on social justice, and the home of the peer reviewed Youth Voice Journal and the Internet Journal of Restorative Justice.
RJ4All Europe draws from the RJ4All Institute large portfolio of numerous successful projects that were carried out for the EU, UK funders and international organisations. This includes independent evaluations of rehabilitation and restorative justice programmes, awareness raising and training projects, work on radicalisation as well as research consultancies and expert advice to governments and international organisations.
By definition, restorative justice-based practices mean that we do not work alone. By design, all our projects are carried out in partnership with others who share our values. Founded upon the FREDA values of Fairness, Respect, Equality, Dignity and Autonomy, RJ4All Europe creates partnerships with like minded organisations to instil and implement FREDA, while also leading on the evaluation and wider dissemination of project results.
We welcome opportunities to join consortia for funding applications to the EU, UN, Council of Europe and other bodies, and we often submit applications as lead partners. Follow the link for more information how to join the RJ4All movement.
