Photo Credit: Journal of Animal Rights Law

Join the Journal of Animal Rights Law’s upcoming online Symposium on Restorative Justice and Animal Rights Law, bringing together contributors to our Fall 2025 special issue on this pioneering theme.

​This FREE symposium will explore how restorative justice principles—long applied in human-centered contexts and rooted in dialogue, healing, and accountability—can reshape our understanding of justice for animals and offer new legal and ethical pathways to address the harm inflicted upon non-human animals. Moving beyond punitive and welfare-centric models, restorative justice invites us to repair broken relationships, foster accountability, and place the experiences of animal victims at the heart of justice.

During this live event, nine invited authors will each present their contribution to the special issue in a concise 10-minute talk, followed by a 10-minute moderated discussion with their fellow contributors and live questions from the audience. The symposium will spotlight a diversity of legal, philosophical, and interdisciplinary insights into how restorative justice can provide pathways to the recognition, protection, and redress of non-human animals.

About the Special Issue:
This issue investigates how restorative practices can reshape our legal and societal obligations to non-human animals. It challenges the limits of conventional justice systems and seeks to center empathy, recognition, and reparation for animals as sentient beings who suffer harm. In doing so, it aims to contribute to the development of a legal and moral landscape that embraces peaceful coexistence and meaningful redress.

This event is open to all—academics, practitioners, students, advocates, and anyone interested in animal rights, restorative justice, or innovative approaches to legal reform.