Theo Gavrielides

Theo Gavrielides (born Cyprus) is a legal philosopher and a restorative justice expert. He is the founder and director of the Restorative Justice for All International Institute (RJ4All) and a visiting professor at the University of the Arts London (UK) and the University of Free State (South Africa).

His writings have influenced criminal justice and human rights scholars, while his theory on "restorative justice pain" introduced a new philosophy for punishment.

Early life and education

Theo Gavrielides was born in Cyprus and migrated to the UK during his teenage years. He defines as a "Greek Londoner", and is the single parent of one boy. His father was a lawyer and his mother is a retired teacher. He lives in South East London, where he hopes to build the world's first restorative justice postcode. There, he runs the Rotherhithe Community Centre from which he provides free restorative justice services to the community.

In 2005, Gavrielides received a PhD in Law (Restorative Justice) from the London School of Economics and Political Science. His doctoral thesis "Restorative Justice Theory and Practice: Addressing the Discrepancy" was published in 2007 by The European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control affiliated with the United Nations (HEUNI) and its second edition by RJ4All Publications. In 2000, he received a Masters in Human Rights Law from Nottingham University. He graduated from the Faculty of Laws of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Gavrielides was admitted to the Bar by the Bar Standards Board of England and Wales and called to the Bar (Middle Temple Inn) in 2023.

Academic and Professional Career

Currently, Professor Theo Gavrielides works as the Director of the Restorative Justice for All International Institute. Gavrielides is also the Editor-in-Chief of RJ4ALL publications. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the peer reviewed publications Internet Journal of Restorative Justice (IJRJ) and the Youth Voice Journal (YVJ).

Gavrielides is currently a visiting professor at Central Saint Martins at the University of the Arts London, the University of the Free state and Buckinghamshire New University. He is also a member of the European Union Knowledge Hub in the Prevention of Radicalisation and a member of the Membership Committee of Middle Temple Inn. He often acts as an advisor on penal reforms to governments and international organisations such as the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF). He campaigns for victims' rights in the UK and abroad.

In 2001, he founded The IARS International Institute, an international NGO promoting and protecting human rights for young people. After 20 years of running it as its director, he stepped down. In 2013, he created the Restorative Justice for All International Institute (RJ4All), a community-led NGO addressing power abuse through restorative justice. He is also the founder of RJ4All Sports and RJ4All Publications.

In the past, he served as a visiting professor at the School of Psychology of the University of East London, Distinguished Policy Fellow at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (REGNet), Australian National University and as an adjunct professor at the Centre for Restorative Justice of the School of Criminology of Simon Fraser University (Canada).

Previously, he was the Human Rights Advisor of the UK Ministry of Justice and the Chief Executive of Race on the Agenda (ROTA). He has served on boards including organisations such as the Anne Frank Trust, and the Community Scrutiny Panel of the Crown Prosecution Service. He was also the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare for 11 years.

Academic interests and Selected works

As a criminologist, he is interested in the role of Restorative Justice and how it can work alongside the criminal justice and youth justice systems. Currently, he leads on the UK-wide programme "Restorative Justice the Evidence: A pilot for the youth justice system of England and Wales". The programme is supported by the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales and is funded by the Youth Endowment Fund. It aims to assess the effectiveness of restorative justice with young offenders and victims through the use of randomised control trials. Gavrielides co-designed a Shared Practice Model for the consistent and safe use of restorative justice across several youth offending teams.

• Gavrielides, T. (2025), Addressing Violent Radicalisation and Extremism: A Restorative Justice & Psychosocial Approach, New York: Springer. ISBN 978-3-031-84031-9 | 978-3-031-84034-0 | 978-3-031-84032-6.
• Gavrielides, T. (2022). Introduction to Restorative Justice Art: four steps towards healing, London: RJ4All Publications. ISBN 978-1-911634-52-2. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.29019.23848.
• Valez, G. and Gavrielides, T. (2022). Restorative Justice: Promoting Peace and Wellbeing, New York: Springer.
• Gavrielides, T. (2021). Comparative Restorative Justice, New York: Springer.
• Gavrielides, T. (2021). Power, Race & Justice: The restorative dialogue we won't have. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-4724-8835-0
• Gavrielides, T. (2020). Restorative Justice Theory and Practice: Addressing the Discrepancy, 2nd Edition London: RJ4All Publications, ISBN 978-1-911634-17-1.
• Gavrielides, T. (2018). "Victims and the restorative justice ambition: A London case study of potentials, assumptions and realities". Contemporary Justice Review: Issues in Criminal, Social, and Restorative Justice, pp. 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10282580.2018.1488129
• Gavrielides, T. (2019). Collapsing the criminal labels of domestic violence: A social and restorative justice approach, London: RJ4All Publications.
• Gavrielides, T. (2016). “The death of democracy and the forces of power and control: The case of Europe”, Vol 5. Issue 3, Social Sciences Journal, Special Issue: Backlash: Contemporary Obstructions to Social Justice. p. 42. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci5030042
• Gavrielides, T. (2016). “Repositioning Restorative Justice in Europe: The Victims’ Directive”, Victims & Offenders Vol. 11, Iss. 1, pp. 71–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2015.1105342
• Gavrielides, T. (2013). Reconstructing restorative justice philosophy. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-4094-7073-1.
• Gavrielides, T. (2012). Rights and Restoration Within Youth Justice. de Sitter Publications. ISBN 978-1-897160-62-6.
• Gavrielides, T. (2007) Restorative Justice Theory & Practice: Addressing the Discrepancy, HEUNI: Helsinki. ISBN 978-952-5333-32-9.

Awards and recognitions

In 2026, he won in the Social Change category of the International Book Awards for his book "Power, Race and Justice". In 2024, he was ranked by ScholarGPS as one of the top scholars in justice, and in 2023 he was a finalist for the Outstanding Book Award of the American Society of Criminology. In 2021, he received the Civic Award of the Liberty of the Old Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey for supporting marginalised communities during the COVID19 pandemic. According to Professor Howard Zehr and Professor John Braithwaite, Theo Gavrielides represents the new generation of restorative justice leaders.