A joint blog by Clinks and the RJ4All International Institute (RJ4All)

Introduction

Restorative justice has the potential to offer a genuine pathway to healing, accountability, and the rebuilding of relationships shattered by violence and injustice. Given its potential, it is worthwhile to consider how we can use restorative justice to repair harm within our communities and our criminal justice system.

This blog sets out what restorative justice is, why it matters, where the law stands, and how we can work together to improve access while recognising that implementation must be safe, properly resourced, victim-led and grounded in the realities of frontline delivery.

What Is Restorative Justice?

Restorative justice is a voluntary, structured process that brings together those harmed by the actions of an individual and the person responsible for causing that harm. Unlike conventional criminal justice, which focuses primarily on punishment, restorative justice centres on repairing relationships and addressing the human impact of wrongdoing.

RJ4All has a vision of a world that embraces the restorative justice values of power sharing, fairness, equality, dignity, and respect. As Professor Gavrielides puts it:

“Restorative Justice is an ethos with practical goals, among which is to repair harm by including affected parties in a (direct or indirect) encounter and a process of understanding through voluntary and honest dialogue.”  — Prof. Gavrielides, RJ4All Founder and Director

While Clinks recognises the importance of these values and the role they can play in strengthening responses to harm, for Clinks, the priority is that any restorative process is trauma-informed, safe for all parties involved, and that organisations delivering these services are able to have their voice heard.

Why It Matters: The Evidence

Restorative justice is not a single, universally effective intervention. Instead, its outcomes depend on case-by-case suitability, context, quality of delivery, participant readiness and the support available before, during and after any process. According to RJ4All and the recent OSCE Practical Guide on Restorative Justice, the underlying principles of restorative justice are power sharing, equality, dignity, respect and involvement in decision making.

Even with this critical consideration in mind, there is a growing body of evidence that restorative justice can have positive outcomes for people who have caused harm, victims and wider communities.

For example, a 2015 RJ4All independent evaluation of two restorative justice programmes demonstrates a clear benefit to the use of restorative justice for those who have committed an offence. Delivered to 268 individuals, these programmes extensively used restorative justice principles within their interventions which helped achieve a 23.8% reduction in recidivism, improved wellbeing and general pro-social behaviour (Gavrielides et al, 2025). Those involved in these programmes were able to begin fostering empathy and genuine accountability.

Restorative justice interventions have also had a demonstrable positive impact for victims of harm. For example, a pilot study with 357 participants (aged 10-17) between 2020-2024 used restorative justice workshops combined with restorative justice art and sports to test whether they would improve the resilience of children and youth at risk of harm or violence. The pilot was found to have a positive impact on the relational competence of the participants, resilience, and restorative justice ethos.

Several Clinks members and RJ4All partners, (e.g. Restorative Solutions CiC, Restorative Thinking and Why Me?) have had a long track record of promoting restorative justice and delivering services that have the aforementioned principles at their core.

Namely, Restorative Solutions delivers hands-on restorative justice programmes for police, prisons, schools and community partners, alongside training and consultancy, and it actively shapes national policy and practice to make restorative approaches accessible to all. Restorative Thinking builds relational and restorative skills across children’s and adult services, education, health and justice settings through blended learning, e-learning and CPD, helping staff hold challenging conversations, repair harm and strengthen relationships rather than relying on punitive responses. Why Me? campaigns for victims’ rights to access restorative justice, runs a national helpline and resources, and produces influential evidence showing that restorative justice helps victims recover, reduces reoffending by up to 27%, and delivers strong value for money, with research estimating a social return of £14 for every £1 invested.

Overall, by embedding restorative principles into everyday services, training and policy advocacy, these organisations show that restorative justice is able to improves outcomes for everyone involved.

These organisations, as well as many others, can be found on Clinks new Directory of Services, which will be launched in the coming weeks.

The Legal Framework: The Victims’ Code and Beyond

The Victims’ Code (2020) and Victims Directive (2012/29/EU) provides victims of an offence with the right to receive information about restorative justice and to access local services. Victim’s Right 3 mandates that victims are informed of their options; Victim’s Right 4 provides access to local services. Communication can be direct (face-to-face meetings) or indirect (letters), ensuring the process remains on the victim’s terms.

Yet the gap between entitlement and access remains stark. Data from the 2020 Crime Survey for England and Wales demonstrates that only 5.5% were offered restorative justice, a fall of two percentage points from the previous year.

This gap is not merely a domestic concern. The Victims Directive (2012/29/EU) and the Council of Europe Recommendation CM/REC(2018)8 both recognise the place of restorative justice within justice systems, whether alongside or, in some circumstances, as an alternative to traditional proceedings. The challenge is not only whether restorative justice is recognised in law, but whether people can access high-quality services in practice. Any move towards stronger legal entitlement must be matched by investment in specialist provision, workforce development, safeguarding and local partnership working.

Our Collaboration

Clinks is the national infrastructure organisation which supports, promotes, and advocates for the voluntary sector working with people involved in the criminal justice system and their families across England and Wales. Clinks connects hundreds of voluntary organisations which provide vital support to people in prison, in the community, and on their return after custody. As the holder of the HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and Ministry of Justice (MoJ) grant for infrastructure support for small and medium-sized voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations, Clinks uses its platform to ensure that organisations are informed on the latest policy updates, have the opportunity to have their voice heard and have access to the resources they need to deliver their services.

The Restorative Justice for All International Institute (RJ4All) is a user-led charitable organisation committed to embedding restorative justice values of power sharing fairness, equality and dignity into everyday life. At their community centre in Rotherhithe, SE16, hundreds of local people gather for wellbeing circles, skills workshops, digital support, and community food provision: restorative justice practiced daily, not just as a response to crime, but as a way of living. Through the world's first Restorative Justice Postcode, RJ4All is building an evidence-based model of community-led change. Nationally, RJ4All engages directly with government on sentencing reform and the justice framework for victims. Internationally, RJ4All works across 13 countries and has an office in Cyprus (RJ4All Europe), convening world leaders and practitioners to advance restorative justice as a genuine pathway to peace.

"Restorative justice is not something that happens only in courtrooms or conference rooms. It is present in how we listen to one another, how we repair relationships after conflict, and how communities choose dialogue over division. At RJ4All, we see this every day at our Community Centre where we divert cases from the criminal and youth justice systems. Our prevention and educational programmes are also the living proof that restorative justice works beyond the courtroom and in the fabric of daily life." — Professor Theo Gavrielides

Together, we are working to increase awareness of evidence-based restorative justice across the voluntary sector, support organisations to consider where restorative approaches may fit within their services, share evidence and good practice, and advocate for better implementation of victims’ entitlements.

Clinks will continue to use its platform to ensure that voluntary sector organisations delivering these services are able to have their voice heard. Clinks will work to ensure that restorative justice services are properly resourced, carefully governed and delivered in ways that reflect the diversity of people, communities and organisations across the voluntary sector.

Next Steps

Despite encouraging evidence and the foundation provided by the legal framework, many people still do not receive meaningful information about restorative justice. We believe that when an individual wants to explore restorative justice, they should be able to do so safely and with access to high-quality support.

With this in mind, Clinks and RJ4All will continue to collaborate where their roles and expertise align, while maintaining a focus on what the voluntary sector needs to deliver effective, ethical and sustainable support.

RJ4All will capitalise on the current opportunity of a large national pilot that the Youth Justice Board and the Youth Endowment Fund have launched to create an evidence base for restorative justice in the youth justice system. This initiative will carry out Randomised Controlled Trials with 10 youth offending justice services from across England and Wales. Learn more about the initiative, here.