Restorative Justice Week 2026

November is an important month in the restorative justice calendar. Across the world there is a focus on repairing relationships, rebuilding trust, and strengthening communities through victim-focused responses to crime, culminating in Restorative Justice Week 2026.

In Ireland, the Probation Service, working with the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, and a network of community-based organisations, is at the forefront of delivering and expanding access to restorative justice nationwide.

At its core, restorative justice empowers victims by giving them a voice and an opportunity to meet or communicate with offenders to explain the impact of a crime. It also holds those who have caused harm accountable while supporting them to take responsibility and make amends. Restorative justice is used with both adults and young people, can be considered for almost all types of crime, and can be used at all stages of the criminal justice process.

Restorative justice interventions are not one-size-fits-all and may include victim empathy programmes, letters of apology or explanation, bespoke interventions, voluntary work, conferences, shuttle mediation, and victim-offender dialogues and meetings.

Nor is restorative justice a soft option. It is a distinctive approach within the criminal justice system that focuses on accountability, empathy and placing victims at the centre of a structured and meaningful process. International evidence finds that restorative justice has positive outcomes for victims in terms of improved satisfaction with the criminal justice process, and for people who have offended in terms of reduced reoffending.
Restorative justice has deep historical roots and has long been used by societies to promote healing, reconciliation and understanding through dialogue involving victims, offenders and communities.

Support, access, and signposting

“Restorative justice is a key component of the criminal justice system delivered in communities, for the benefit of communities,” says Fíona Ní Chinnéide, Deputy Director of the Probation Service. She adds that strengthening a victim-sensitive approach through restorative justice principles is a core strategic priority for the Service.

The Probation Service delivers restorative justice directly and through a nationwide network of community-based organisations (CBOs) that receive referrals at key stages of the criminal justice process.

Established in 2018, the Restorative Justice and Victim Services Unit (RJVSU) is a specialised multidisciplinary unit within the Probation Service. It acts as a central point of contact for victims seeking information or access to restorative justice, while also providing support and training to Probation teams nationwide.

Policy and practice

At legislative and policy level, there is broad support for expanding restorative justice. The Children Act 2001 and the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 underpin access to restorative justice and ensure that victims are informed of available services. This commitment is reflected in the Programme for Government and in the Probation Service’s Restorative Justice Action Plan 2025-2027, which aims to increase referrals, victim engagement, and access nationally.

“Our plan is ambitious in its targets as we aim to increase referrals from the courts, victim contacts and community-level engagement by expanding delivery and access through community-based organisations,” says Ní Chinnéide.

Collaboration is central to delivering restorative justice and ensuring a consistent, high-quality service nationwide. To support this, the Probation Service chairs the cross-sectoral Restorative Justice Forum, established in 2024, which brings criminal justice agencies together to promote awareness, availability and quality standards.

Alongside this, the Restorative Justice Network brings together representatives responsible for Probation-funded community-based restorative justice projects. The network supports shared learning, collaboration and service quality. In 2025, five restorative justice-focused community-based organisations received more than €990,000 in funding from the Probation Service.

One of the latest initiatives to improve access to restorative justice is a pilot project led by the RJVSU in collaboration with a Community Service team in Dublin.

The pilot introduces people subject to Community Service Orders to restorative justice, helping to build victim empathy and awareness of the impact of their offending. Throughout 2025, victim empathy workshops were delivered across the Dublin region.

Earlier this year, the Probation Service commenced a landmark project to develop Ireland’s first National Framework of Practice for Restorative Justice. The project is being delivered through Maynooth University’s School of Law and Criminology. Once completed, the framework will provide national best-practice principles for restorative justice delivery and will serve as a resource for practitioners, community-based organisations, policymakers and the wider criminal justice and victim support sectors.

Victims’ voice

In recognition of the importance of victims’ experiences, the Probation Service held its first Victim Feedback Circle earlier this year. Co-designed with a victim support organisation and a victim with lived experience of restorative justice, the initiative invited victims who had engaged with the RJVSU during the previous three years to share their perspectives.

Just under half of attendees had participated in a restorative justice intervention through the Probation Service, all of whom expressed satisfaction with the process.

Participants described restorative justice as an important part of their healing journey:

• “It helped me in my recovery and was empowering.”
• “It was the first time I felt I had a voice.”
• “I felt supported, respected and heard.”

All participants who had taken part in a restorative justice intervention reported that they were glad they had done so.

Click here for more information about the Probation Service Restorative Justice and Victim Services Unit (RJVSU)

Contact the RJVSU:
T: 01 817 3600
E: restorative@probation.ie