This database primarily assists lawyers, especially junior lawyers, to improve the quality of defence representation for individuals facing the death penalty in Asia. It contains detailed death penalty case briefs from each of the jurisdictions – China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Taiwan. These case briefs aim to help time-poor lawyers in Asia to gain an understanding of the issues affecting the right to effective defence across the region and strategies to improve their work.
Rather than prioritising quantitative data, this instance aims to provide detailed insights into representative, significant or landmark death penalty cases from across the region as well as to highlight lawyers’ strategies and arguments. It also includes useful resources, including national research reports on effective defence in death penalty cases, following a standardised methodology, produced by each partner organisation. Other resources include country-specific UN submissions, briefing papers, reports and events related to effective defence and fair trial rights in capital cases.
Death Penalty Defence – Asia is a collaboration between a network of civil society organisations from across Asia and HURIDOCS. Partner organisations collaborating on the project are The Square Circle Clinic (TSCC) in India, Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) in Indonesia, Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR), Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP), a legal NGO in China and The Rights Practice (TRP) in London.