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Arguably, the term ‘Restorative Justice’ was first introduced in the contemporary criminal justice literature and practice in the 1970s. However, strong evidence suggests that the roots of its concept are ancient, reaching back into the customs and religions of most traditional societies. In fact, some have claimed that the RJ values are grounded in traditions of justice as old as the ancient Greek and Roman civilisations (John Braithwaite 2002; Daniel van Ness 1986: 64-68). For instance, Daniel van Ness believes that the term was probably coined by Albert Eglash in a 1977 article (Albert Eglash 1977), but the ideas underlying it, as well as many of its practices date back to the early types of human aggregations (Daniel van Ness and Karen Strong Heetderks 1997: 24). Follow up research by IARS concluded that many RJ theoretical and practical elements are not new. On the contrary, they have been with us since we first felt the need to live collectively. In fact, for a number of centuries, they constituted the dominant features of the then ‘justice systems’, while, occasionally, were put aside in favour of other more punitive responses. Now, it appears that RJ has again completed this circle, and is called back onto the criminal justice agenda.