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Case Watch: Due Process Doesn’t Stop with the Trial Judgment
In a case related to forgery and EU subsidies, the European Court reaffirmed the importance of the right of accused persons to present and challenge evidence and underscored that these rights must be respected at all stages of proceedings.
Appalling Conditions in Latin America’s Prisons
In the aftermath of the gruesome Comayagua prison fire in Honduras, one fact stands out: Almost two-thirds of the 800 inmates were awaiting trial or being held without charge.
Pretrial Abuses Dominate at the European Court of Human Rights
Cases involving pretrial rights abuses made up more than two-thirds of judgments issued by the European Court of Human Rights over the past three months, with most of the cases originating in Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.
Case Watch: Pretrial Detention, Pilot Judgments and the European Court of Human Rights
Amid emotional, politicized attacks on the European Court of Human Rights, a recent ruling on pretrial detention that covers 250 Russian cases provides an eloquent witness for the defense.
Case Watch: European Court Rules on Prison for Life
In two important rulings, the European Court of Human Rights has concluded that mandatory life jail sentences without the possibility of parole do not constitute a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Pretrial Detention and Corruption: Justice for Sale
Corruption is never good. But corruption in pretrial detention is especially insidious.
Rethinking Justice in Mexico: The Case of Morelos
In a country riven by violence, the Mexican state of Morelos is testing a new approach to criminal justice.
Arrest Rights Challenge
In Poland, many accused don’t have access to a lawyer until the investigation into their case has been completed. This brief challenges the practice, which undermines the fundamental right to a fair trial.
From Bulgarian to Swedish: European Arrest Rights Translated
New European regulations should ensure that anyone arrested in the European Union has access to a "letter of rights" detailing their rights in all 23 official EU languages
Health Experts and the Deadly Risks of Pretrial Detention
Doctors and health professionals can provide a crucial voice in the effort to reduce the excessive use of pretrial detention by justice systems around the world.
Legal Power to the People
A new approach to holding governments accountable to the citizens they are supposed to serve. Call it "legal empowerment."
Pretrial 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.
Pretrial Justice: Ensuring Fair Treatment for the Poor
James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, set out a range of steps needed to ensure fair treatment of the poor by national justice systems during a meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Joint 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.
Delivering Timely Justice in Africa
Two people closely involved in efforts to reduce the number of prisoners awaiting trial in Uganda talk about the challenges they face.
Hungary at Odds with Europe over Arrest Rights
New legislation allows for suspects in serious crimes to be held by police for up to 48 hours without access to defense counsel, and for up to 5 days without court review.
Hungary Backslides on Arrest Rights
The Open Society Justice Initiative is deeply concerned by new legislation that allows suspects in serious crime cases to be held for up to 48 hours without access to defense counsel, and up to 5 days without court review.
Pretrial Detainees: At Risk of Torture
A new report reminds us that torture and other ill-treatment of prisoners are not aberrations; they are common, even routine, in many detention facilities around the world.
Europe Moving to Strengthen Arrest Rights
Europeans may be surprised to hear that basic rights, such as the right to a lawyer or a phone call, are only now being debated at the European level. Yet at the moment many countries in the region fail to provide them.
Pretrial 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.
