This fact sheet sets out the remaining priorities for development of E.U.-wide standards on arrest and criminal procedural rights.

A pilot paralegal program launched by Timap for Justice and the Open Society Justice Initiative is providing access to justice to those detained at police stations and prisons in rural Sierra Leone.

Learn more about the African Commission, which is tasked with promoting and protecting human rights by interpreting the African Charter and considering individual complaints.

Learn more about the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, a judicial body that delivers binding judgments on compliance with the African Charter.

The excessive use of pretrial detention poses a great risk to public health and human rights. And, as this fact sheet outlines, the health risks affect not only those detained but also societies at large.

Learn more about the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice, which has accepted the submission of individual complaints for human rights violations since 2005.

Learn more about the East African Court of Justice, which hears cases on violations of the rule of law, one of the fundamental and operational principles set out in the East African Community Treaty.

The excessive and arbitrary use of pretrial detention critically undermines socioeconomic development—and is especially harmful to the poor.