Over 40 percent of prisoners in Mexico are awaiting trial. To address the problem, the state of Morelos worked with the Open Society Justice Initiative to establish a program to manage supervised pretrial release.

Nigeria’s prisons are notoriously overcrowded. This fact sheet outlines a project launched in 2005 by the NGO REPLACE, aiming to reduce the prison population and shorten the length of pretrial detention.

A pilot project in Malawi is demonstrating how legal assistance can be provided in a cost effective way by paralegals.

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

Of the nearly ten million people in detention around the world, those held before trial or conviction are most at risk of torture.

The majority of Sierra Leone's prison population is in pretrial detention. To reduce the numbers, a local NGO is piloting a prorgam that provides early legal assistance to criminal defendants.

Locking up prisoners for extended periods while awaiting trial feeds corruption; bribes are needed for food and water, for blankets and even to see a lawyer.

Five reasons why the new UN Guidelines and Principles on Legal Aid are groundbreaking and progressive.