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1 Restorative Just. 1 (2013)

handle is hein.journals/restjust1 and id is 1 raw text is: DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5235/20504721.1.1.1

An adventure is taking off. Why Restorative Justice:
An Internationaljournal?
Ivo Aertsen, Stephan Parmentier, Inge Vanfraechem, Lode
Walgrave and Estelle Zinsstag*
The five authors, together with Gerry Johnstone (University of Hull, Book Review Editor),
form the Editorial Team of RJIJ and are all based at the Leuven Institute of Criminology
(LINC), University of Leuven (Belgium).
The idea of creating an international journal on restorative justice is not particularly
new. In the last ten years, and even before that, ideas were exchanged and plans made
on a number of occasions concerning the possibility of such an initiative. Various inter-
national restorative justice organisations, practitioners and networks of researchers put
forward proposals in this respect. However, the necessary human and financial resources
and an appropriate environment to take up such an endeavour were simply lacking. That
is, until recently.
Today, following extensive consultation with and support from a large group of key
international experts, but also with the professional guidance of a well-respected and
visionary publisher, we are delighted to launch this journal. It is our belief that the time
has come for an international medium offering in-depth, sophisticated and high-quality
forms of communication about restorative justice the world over. Restorative justice has
developed as a field of innovative ideas, evolving practices and research that is of crucial
relevance to the way justice is done and, more broadly, to working towards a more just
world.
It is obvious indeed that restorative justice is expanding rapidly. Within a few dec-
ades it has grown from a little-known idiom to a broad and ever 'widening river' (Zehr,
2002: 62) of innovative practices and empirical evaluations, and has become a cen-
tral issue in theoretical, legal and socio-ethical debates. While its origins can be traced
back to seeking 'alternative' ways of dealing with minor juvenile delinquency in North
America, nowadays restorative justice practices are applied to an increasingly wide range
of crimes in all parts of the world. They are no longer limited to petty or non-violent
crimes, but extend to cases of serious attacks on the physical and moral integrity of
* We wish to thank Monique Anderson for re-reading our text with great care.

Restorative Justice: An International Journal

EDITORIAL

(2013) vol l issue lI

1

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