“… Justice, restorative justice, is being served when efforts are being made to work for healing, for forgiving, and for reconciliation.” –Desmond Tutu, “No Future Without Forgiveness”
Restorative Justice (RJ) is a paradigm that understands crime and violence as events that cause harm to individuals and harm to the relationship of trust within a community. RJ therefore readdresses the focus of justice toward the need of the victims, highlights the offender’s responsibility to repair the harm caused, and encourages the active participation of those who in the community have a stake in a specific offenceto find measures to prevent recurrence of crime and violence.
Based on the principles and values of Restorative Justice, TCRJ offers services that help reduce crime, violence and injustice, and promote healing and reparation for individuals and communities.
TCRJ services can be provided in English, Spanish, French and Italian.
Experiences
- Training: We provide training and technical support to the justice sector personnel, NGOs and community organizations, on Restorative Justice and Alternative Dispute Resolution processes.
- Conferences and academic courses: Over the years TCRJ has provided key-note speeches, conference presentations, academic classes and lectures on the theory and applications of Restorative Justiceand the role and importance of Alternative Dispute Resolution processes. Specific presentations have also been given on the potential contribution of Restorative Justice in addressing systemic conflicts, in particular a culture of mafia.
- Advice to governments: Under USAID-funded justice sector projects, TCRJ has provided technical assistance to governments on alternative procedures to conflicts within and outside the court proceedings to strengthen the rule of law, combat corruption and organized crime, and strengthen civil society participation and access to justice.
- Restorative Conferences/meetings between people affected by crime/juvenile justice: TCRJ has an extensive experience in facilitating conferences between victims, offenders and community members affected by crime aimed at repairing the harm caused and finding measures to prevent recurrence of crime and violence. Special expertise in restorative processes in juvenile justice and with youth at risk.
- Dialogues and Circle Facilitations: TCRJ has provided these types of restorative applications to address community needs and difficult issues (i.e.: domestic and gender violence, gang issues, race and power issues, issues of mistrust between police and community members…).
- Restorative alternative approaches to disciplinary measures in schools: TCRJ helps school communities and families to address conflicts and harming behavior such as bullying, offering innovative and restorative ways of responding to violence and building a culture of peace.
- Coordination of International Initiatives Study Tour to Italy for international cooperation on strengthening the rule of law. In a USAID-funded justice sector project, TCRJ has facilitated meetings, dialogues and exchange of information between Mexican and Italian government officials and civil society organizations in order to create a network of collaboration to combat organized crime.
For the majority of its education programs on Restorative Justice, TCRJ uses videos of real cases as guidelines and inspirational tools for restorative applications in local contexts.