The costs of pretrial detention in Mexico are painfully high—for the state and its citizens in general, and for detainees and their families in particular.

Police in Nigeria commit extrajudicial violence and extortion with relative impunity, according to this report by the Open Society Justice Initiative and the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria.

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

Organizations across the region are working to combat excessive pretrial detention. Find out where and how.

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

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.

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.