Publications
Read and download reports, handbooks, briefing papers, legal and policy submissions, and fact sheets from the Open Society Justice Initiative.
The UN Guidelines and Principles on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems
Five reasons why the new UN Guidelines and Principles on Legal Aid are groundbreaking and progressive.
February 2013Fact Sheet: Improving Pretrial Justice in Africa
Organizations across the region are working to combat excessive pretrial detention. Find out where and how.
October 2012Fact Sheet: The Global Campaign for Pretrial Justice
We seek to document what happens when pretrial justice systems fail, and to develop and share cost-effective ways to get them working.
October 2012Improving Pretrial Justice: The Roles of Lawyers and Paralegals
This report looks at the positive impact that early intervention by lawyers and paralegals can have on pretrial justice and provides a guide to the ways in which lawyer and paralegal schemes can be set up.
April 2012 | Ed CapePretrial Detention and Health: Unintended Consequences, Deadly Results
This report, aimed at health professionals, looks at the sometimes disastrous health impacts of the excessive use of pretrial detention.
November 2011Joint Statement on Pretrial Detention in Africa
16 civil society groups called on the African Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights to work to end excessive use of pretrial detention.
October 25, 2011Pretrial Detention and Torture: Why Pretrial Detainees Face the Greatest Risk
Of the nearly 10 million people detained globally, those held in pretrial detention face the most significant risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
June 2011The 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 2011