Fair Trials is a
UK-registered
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
which works for
fair trials
Fair Trials is a UK-registered non-governmental organization which works for fair trials according to international standards of justice and the right to a fair trial, identifying where criminal justice is failing, alerting the world to the probl ...
according to international standards of justice and the right to a fair trial, identifying where criminal justice is failing, alerting the world to the problems, and resolving these issues through campaigning, advocacy and strategic litigation.
It also builds regional legal capacity through targeted training, mentoring and network activities, coordinating a network of criminal justice legal experts and European human rights NGOs called JUSTICIA.
History
Fair Trials was founded by lawyer
Stephen Jakobi
Stephen Jakobi OBE (born 1935) is an English writer and human rights lawyer who is a former chief executive of Fair Trials Abroad (now Fair Trials), which he founded in 1992.
Jakobi, who was born in Ealing, London in 1935 to German-Jewish paren ...
in 1992 (under the name Fair Trials Abroad) as a response to the case of Karen Smith, a British citizen arrested in
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
for
drug smuggling
The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drug prohibition, prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibitionism, prohibit trade, except under license, ...
. It now styles itself as the "global criminal justice watchdog".
Current work
The areas where Fair Trials works are:
Pre-trial detention
Since 2011, Fair Trials has campaigned for
international human rights
International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law are primarily made up of treaties, ag ...
standards on
pre-trial detention
Remand, also known as pre-trial detention, preventive detention, or provisional detention, is the process of detaining a person until their trial after they have been arrested and charged with an offence. A person who is on remand is held i ...
to be more widely understood and applied in practice. This began with a 2011 report, which was followed by a 2014 report. These reports called for the adoption of EU-wide minimum standards on pre-trial detention, including:
* Ensuring that the procedure for pre-trial detention decisions complies with all aspects of the right to a fair trial;
* Not using extradition until cases are trial-ready;
* Considering the proportionality of detention and the use of alternatives to pre-trial detention;
* Ensuring detainees are given the best opportunity to prepare for trial, through safeguarding detention conditions.
Plea bargaining ('Trial waivers')
Fair Trials has researched the use of
plea bargain
A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...
ing, also known as "
trial waivers", campaigning for a "a rights-based approach" to trial waiver systems. They coordinated research across 90 countries, assessing the legal and human rights implications and providing recommendations in a report, "The Disappearing Trial".
EU defence rights
Fair Trials has been responsible for the production of detailed reports and policy briefings for EU policy-makers. It has worked for the proper implementation of EU law, through strategic litigation and training and has helped people access local expertise by producing "Notes of Advice" on criminal proceedings and justice systems in Europe. Additionally, Fair Trials set up the Legal Experts Advisory Panel (LEAP), which is an EU-wide network of experts in criminal justice and human rights working to promote fair and effective judicial cooperation within Europe, as well as informing the EU's work on criminal justice.
Extradition reform
Fair Trials' work in this area has been focused on campaigning to reform the
European Arrest Warrant, a fast-track system for surrendering people from one EU country to another.
Fair Trials has highlighted a number of cases which demonstrate that the European Arrest Warrant system is jeopardising the right to a fair trial. In particular, Fair Trials alleges that:
* European Arrest Warrants have been issued many years after the alleged offence was committed.
* Once warrants have been issued there is no effective way of removing them, even after extradition has been refused.
* They have been used to send people to another EU member state to serve a prison sentence resulting from an unfair trial.
* Warrants have been used to force a person to face trial when the charges are based on evidence obtained by police brutality.
* Sometimes people surrendered under an Arrest Warrant have to spend months or even years in detention before they can appear in court to establish their innocence.
Interpol
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
systems, particularly its international "wanted person" alerts (
"Red Notices") can be abused in order to persecute refugees, journalists and peaceful political demonstrators worldwide.
In 2013, Fair Trials released a report which identified two major areas for INTERPOL reform:
# Protection from abuse of Interpol's tools by member countries, and
# Creation of a more fair and transparent process for individuals who are challenging data that has been processed by INTERPOL.
Fair Trials has met with Interpol on multiple occasions as part of an ongoing dialogue between the two organisations to prevent the abuse of its systems.
In a follow-up report, Fair Trials outlined a series of further reforms which Fair Trials holds to be necessary in order to ensure protection of INTERPOL’s systems against abuse.
Casework
In its early years, Fair Trials used to provide case support, assisting around 500 individuals each year and provide assistance in approximately 50 cases at any one time. It used a network of lawyers and diplomatic, political and media contacts to advocate on behalf of clients. It did not charge clients for the service it offers.
Fair Trials provided assistance on several high-profile cases including the case of English nanny
Louise Woodward
Louise Woodward (born 1978) is a British former au pair, who at the age of 18 was accused of second degree murder but subsequently convicted of the involuntary manslaughter (reduced from the jury trial verdict) of eight-month-old Matthew Eappen ...
who, in 1997, was arrested in America for murder, after the death of a baby in her care. Woodward was found guilty of
second degree murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
, although her sentence was reduced on appeal as the court found that there was no malice in Louise's actions and that “allowing this defendant on this evidence to remain convicted of second-degree murder would be a miscarriage of justice.” In 2007, 10 years later, the key prosecution witness reversed his evidence stating: “the science we have today could, in fact, have exonerated Louise. There is certainly, in retrospect, reasonable doubt.”
Other high-profile, notable cases include
Ian Stillman
Ian Stillman (1950 – 25 May 2016) was a deaf British aid worker from Reading, Berkshire, England, in the United Kingdom, whose imprisonment and subsequent release from prison in India garnered media attention. Together with his wife Sue, he foun ...
: In August 2000, deaf charity worker Ian Stillman was arrested in India for smuggling 20 kilograms of cannabis after the drug was found in a shared taxi. He has always maintained his innocence. Fair Trials campaigned for his release and in 2002 he was finally released after spending two years in prison.
Greek Plane Spotters: In November 2001, a group of 12 British and two
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
plane spotters were arrested on charges of
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
after taking notes during an open day at a Greek Air Force base. They were found guilty in 2002. The Greek courts overturned the conviction on appeal.
Ghana Girls: In July 2007, two 16-year-old girls, Yetunde Diya and Yasemin Vatansever, were arrested for possession of six kilograms of
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
at
Accra
Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...
airport in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
. The girls claimed they did not know they were carrying drugs. With help from Fair Trials International (as it was then known), the girls received only a one-year prison sentence instead of the maximum three-year sentence.
Andrew Symeou
Andrew Christopher Symeou (born 16 October 1988) is a British born memoirist and author of the book ''Extradited: The European Arrest Warrant and My Fight for Justice from a Greek Prison Cell.''
Symeou was falsely accused of attacking and kil ...
: In July 2008, British student Andrew Symeou stood wrongly accused of killing a holiday maker on a Greek island. Although evidence against him was deeply flawed and his innocence could be proven, he was extradited to Greece on a
European Arrest Warrant and held in prison for a year before being acquitted in 2011.
References
External links
Fair Trials{{authority control
Human rights organisations based in the United Kingdom
Anti–death penalty organizations
Imprisonment and detention
Human rights
Organizations established in 1992