Publications
Read and download reports, handbooks, briefing papers, legal and policy submissions, and fact sheets from the Open Society Justice Initiative.
Strengthening Pretrial Justice: A Guide to the Effective Use of Indicators
This guide proposes a methodical approach toward developing and deploying empirically based indicators to identify exemplary and problematic pretrial practices.
January 2016The Criminal Complaint against Switzerland's Argor-Heraeus S.A.
The Justice Initiative is supporting a criminal complaint against a Swiss gold refiner, which accuses the company of illegally processing gold pillaged from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
November 4, 2013The Global Legal Empowerment Initiative
The UN Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor estimates that four billion people live outside the protection of the law. The Open Society Foundations are working to strengthen and expand access to the law for all.
September 2012The Global Principles on National Security and the Right to Information (The Tshwane Principles)
The Tshwane Principles offer global standards on how to ensure the fullest possible public access to information, while protecting legitimate national security concerns.
June 12, 2013The Growing Threat of Soft Censorship
An OSI report on a new style of censorship—not entirely new, but increasingly employed around the world—is subtle, indirect, and sophisticated.
December 2005The Rising Tide: Freedom of Information in Southeast Europe
The Open Society Justice Initiative brought together Croatian political figures, activists, and experts from throughout Europe to secure support for the creation of a Croatian freedom of information law, and to discuss the recent emergence of...
July 2003The Socioeconomic Impact of Pretrial Detention
Approximately 10 million people per year pass through pretrial detention; many will spend months or even years behind bars—without being tried or found guilty. This report details how this global phenomenon wastes human potential and undermines...
February 2011The Socioeconomic Impact of Pretrial Detention in Ghana
A report on the impact of pretrial detention in Ghana based on a survey of the experiences of 45 adults held in Kumasi prison.
May 2013