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UN member states are launching negotiations on global development goals for 2015-30. It is time to include targets for justice.

There are an estimated 3.3 million people in jails around the world awaiting trial, or the finalization of a trial, at any one time—roughly a third of the world’s prison population. Many don’t need to be there.

The UN has recognized the vital role legal aid plays in delivering access to justice for all. Now it needs to monitor implementation of its Principles and Guidelines.

Two young women talk about their decision to train as community-based paralegals in Chitral, on Pakistan's remote northern border with Afghanistan.

Community-based paralegals are helping young women and their families use the law to resolve problems arising from “down country” marriages.

New standards seek to change Africa’s dismal record on the over-use of pretrial detention, a scourge whose impacts reach well beyond the individuals directly affected.

Denying pretrial release to suspects, regardless of the potential threat, has become a favored strategy for politicians eager to present themselves as "tough on crime".

A new African initiative takes aim at the excessive and arbitrary use of pretrial detention and its associated human and economic costs.

The first hours after arrest are crucial. If suspects don’t have access to basic criminal defense, they’re left vulnerable. A new resource aims to assist lawyers, police, and judges to advocate for arrest rights in Europe.

Most countries have legislation stating that all people arrested by the police have the right to see a lawyer before they are interrogated. But law and practice are often very different things. Consider the case of Hungary.

In a recent decision, the court took an unprecedented step in recognizing how excessive pretrial detention carries repercussions beyond the holding cells.

Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police has just launched a code of conduct and professional standards for the country’s police force. Will it make a difference?

Marion Isobel of the Open Society Justice Initiative looks at how international legal standards are being used to combat torture, abuse and excessive detention of suspects in police custody.

Europe’s top human rights court has affirmed the importance of early access to legal counsel. But the UN Human Rights Committee has passed up an opportunity to affirm the same high standards globally.

The head of Malawi's Paralegal Advisory Service Institute talks about how an innovative legal aid scheme for pretrial detainees in Malawi sowelaid the groundwork for new global UN guidelines on access to legal advice.

Sierra Leone's parliament has just enacted one of the most progressive legal aid laws in Africa—with an innovative approach to providing access to justice for all that will reinforce the rule of law in a society still scarred by the brutal civil...

Members of the UN have agreed that properly funded legal aid schemes are not just optional, but should be a basic part of any country's justice system.

A new report from the Open Society Justice Initiative looks at the impact that defense lawyers and paralegals can have when they can reach individuals soon after an arrest.