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OpenTrial:

the world's independent monitor of legal systems.

Only through civil engagement with the law and public scrutiny of judiciaries, the police and prosecution, can the rule of law properly spread and take hold around the world.

Click here to help empower civil society for justice

Other Norfolk groundbreakers include: Robert Walpole, Elizabeth Fry, Horatio Nelson, Thomas Paine, Charles Townshend and Thomas William Coke

"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history." Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

and the OpenTrial for Dignity & Justice Group on

"An injustice sufferer's trauma, sense of vulnerability and powerlessness must cease to be compounded by the realisation that few will lift a finger to help."

Fair Trial

FAIR TRIAL

The basic criteria of this basic human right are:

PRE-TRIAL RIGHTS

1. The prohibition on arbitrary arrest and detention

2. The right to know the reasons for arrest

3. The right to legal counsel

4. The right to a prompt appearance before a judge to challenge the lawfulness of arrest and detention

5. The prohibition of torture and the right to humane conditions during pre-trial detention

6. The prohibition on incommunicado detention Read more

BEWARE, WEAK RULE OF LAW!

Belarus: EU acts against aberrant judges more

Turkey: Omur Cagdas Ersoy is charged with belonging to a left-wing armed faction that no longer exists, and Cengiz Dogan is a Kurd, effectively charged with being in two places at the same time. Some 500 students that are alleged members of terrorist groups, more than 100 journalists, 47 lawyers and thousands of Kurd sympathisers have been imprisoned. Pressure from the EU and human rights NGOs is bringing about releases.

Ukraine: Is Yulia Tymoshenko likely to receive a fair trial? Read more

Bahrain: medical staff from the Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama subjected to torture & abuse, and unfair trials with predetermined outcomes. more

Red Travel/Business Warning: Bali, Indonesia. Corrupt elements in the police and prosecution service, which concoct criminal cases and extort, remain a threat to business people & tourists. Here, from the island, are some classic examples of the dangers of legal system extortion and the tyranny of the corrupt.

Red Business Warning: The Economist reports that: "one in six businessmen in Russia has been prosecuted for an alleged economic crime over the past decade." Read more

Testimonial

OpenTrial assists victims of legal system dysfunction.

Since June of 2011, I have received continuing and unstinting assistance from OpenTrial and benefited enormously from the assistance and services rendered. ...Read more

Let's Clean Up Justice Systems

Join us at the International Convention on Open Justice

to discuss how best to use modern technology to open up justice systems. Contact us if interested in attending/sponsoring it..

International OpenTrial Court Monitoring - Observers Needed

WHAT? - Court monitoring is a process of observing and gathering information on court practices and procedures and a vehicle for promoting improvements in the justice system.
WHO? - Monitoring is best done by outside observers, Read more

The Law's Majestic Equality.

Economic, social, and procedural barriers prevent the great majority of poor people in the world from achieving justice in courts. But what happens where social and economic (SE) rightsare enshriined in constitutions? Then, according to Varun Gauri and Dan Brinks, the impact of courts is positive: very much pro-poor in India and South Africa, distribution-neutral in Indonesia and Brazil; but sharply anti-poor in Nigeria.

US, clean up your act!

OpenTrial opposes extradition to the US until basic fair trial criteria are satisfied there. Also see "Legitimising Legal Dysfunction"

The Tyranny of Good Intentions.

By: Paul Craig Roberts (a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury) and Lawrence M. Stratton. If you thought weak rule of law only exists in the developing world, think again, for here is an excellent, eye-opening book that exposes the shocking erosion of the rule of law in the U.S. more

Also, read this New York Times article about police officers planting drugs, making false arrests, smuggling guns and being involved in corruption.

Transparency International's Advocacy Toolkit is an excellent guide to combating judicial corruption in various countries. Team up with us to implement it. Click here for a pdf copy.

Here we will be reviewing legal systems from around the world using the published findings of various bodies and professionals. more

Here's an Oath to Justice to help revive the ethic of Aristides

A quiet, steady man who loved justice and truth, Aristides was not interested in increasing his own wealth or prestige and despised mercenary motives in public men. Click here

State-Power Piracy - under colour of official right

A work-in-progress look at existing remedies and deterrents for state-power piracy with the view to possible consolidation into a template for a bill, for adaptation and enactment, which would make state-power piracy a serious criminal offence around the world, while at the same time ensuring judicial independence . more

From the Gazette

OpenTrial Gazette

Fauziah Ibrahim, of Al Jazeera English, looks at Indonesia’s Justice System, and finds it riddled with corruption and incompetent investigative procedures, where trials and sentences are often deemed unfair.

Also, OpenTrial provides more details as to why Indonesia’s court system is not credible and the danger this poses, particularly when death sentences are meted out for drug-related crimes.

Strictly no (more) white elephants
If today’s rule-of-law industry were in the private sector it would be on its last legs, or long extinct.

Interpol Boss Sees Red Over Red Notices

While concerns grow that Red Notices are not only being issued in violation of human rights, but also that corrupt police forces extend their reach with them, Interpol Chief, Ronald Noble, is angrily dismissive when probed. Click here to read a related article in The New Jurist.

Judicial Independence & Nigeria’s Nascent Democracy

The article examines the administration of justice in Nigeria’s nascent ‘democracy’, including the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, corruption in the judiciary, the delay in judicial process, etc.

A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN LEGAL PROFESSIONALS AND THOSE SUBJECT TO THE LAW IS ESSENTIAL TO THE RULE OF LAW. THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED BY BEING ENTERPRISING FOR JUSTICE

LET'S HARNESS MODERN TECHNOLOGY TO MONITOR STAFF, PROCEDURES AND SYSTEMS TO DETER CORRUPTION AND VIOLENCE IN LEGAL SYSTEMS AROUND THE WORLD.

LET'S PUT A FAIR TRIALS CHECKLIST IN EVERY COURT IN THE WORLD. FAIR TRIALS ARE THE KEYSTONE FOR JUSTICE, HUMAN RIGHTS, STABLE & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, ETC. EMAIL US FOR A PDF DOWNLOAD LINK.

OPEN JUSTICE - Public scrutiny of and lay engagement with the law are quintessential to the rule of law. Transparency and information are key.

Beverly McLachlin, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Canada, says: “In the final analysis, the open court principle is not an end in itself, but a means to promote the rule of law and the administration of justice.”

“First, [the open court principle] assists in the search for truth ......... By permitting access to and dissemination of accurate information, it plays an important role in educating the public [about their rights, obligations and the role of the courts].

“Second, openness enhances judicial accountability. ..... "A judge’s knowledge that his or her conduct on the bench is under observation and may be broadly reported offers a strong incentive to avoid any perception of bias and to ensure that trial fairness is respected. Similarly, the awareness of police officers and public prosecutors that their acts will be scrutinised in open court helps ensure fair conduct and may elicit public pressure to correct oppressive state practices".

“Finally, since openness permits the community to see that justice is done, it has a therapeutic function.

OpenTrial agrees; but, despite open courts, in many countries legal system corruption and violence remain endemic. The internet, with its webcams, websites and databases, which the public can directly access, provides the answer. Thus, OpenTrial works to provide these tools so that societies can bring their legal systems to account themselves. Online profiles of the police and prosecution services and the judiciary, and those who staff them, can be used by civil society to combat corruption, violence, human rights abuse and injustice within legal systems. In this way, open justice strengthens the rule of law, which, in turn, provides the basis for economic, social and political development, all of which lift people out of poverty, exploitation and abuse.

OpenTrial's audience currently spans over 120 countries.

OpenTrial mission & goals, the rule of law, open justice and the internet

MISSION

To reduce the scope for corruption, violence and human rights abuse within developing-world legal systems and, thereby, strengthen the rule of law in aid of national development.

GOALS FOR EACH COUNTRY:

Short-term: Legal system transparency that engenders improved accountability, civic engagement and reform.

Medium-term: A reduced incidence of legal system corruption, violence, human rights abuse and injustice.

Long-term: Greater legal stability and predictability, reduced levels of corruption generally, greater capitalisation of assets, improved commerce and standards of living, reduced environmental degradation, reduced levels of conflict and disorder, lower incidence of radicalism and enhanced freedom of expression.

RULE OF LAW:

The Secretary-General of the United Nations defines the rule of law as:

a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards. It requires, as well, measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness and procedural and legal transparency.

Respect for the law by the authorities and the ideal of equality before the law are the bedrock of prosperous and democratic societies in the developed world. In the developing world, however, legal systems are very often dysfunctional, blighting the country they are supposed to serve, thus retarding social, political and economic development. Ideally a legal system should serve society as a whole, rather than an elite, sectarian factions, or be self-serving (i.e. serving the interests of judges, lawyers, prosecutors and the police).

OPEN JUSTICE:
Open justice is central to OpenTrial's work in the developing world.
Read more...

Some quotes on justice and the lack of it:

"In the darkness of secrecy, sinister and evil in every shape shall have full swing. Only in proportion as publicity has place can any of the checks applicable to judicial injustice operate. Where there is no publicity, there is no justice. Publicity is the very soul of justice. It is the keenest spur to exertion and the surest of all guards against improbity. It keeps the judge himself while trying under trial."

Jeremy Bentham, English Philosopher (1748-1832)

"Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer."

William Blackstone, C18th English Jurist

Some insightful quotations from the works of Charles Dickens (1812-1870) on impediments to the rule of law that, unfortunately, still apply to many legal systems today:

The one great principle of the English law is to make business for itself. There is no other principle distinctly, certainly, and consistently maintained through all its narrow turnings.” Bleak House

"Circumstances may accumulate so strongly even against an innocent man, that directed, sharpened, and pointed, they may slay him." The Mystery of Edwin Drood

"There are many pleasant fictions of the law in constant operation, but there is not one so pleasant or practically humorous as that which supposes every man to be of equal value in its impartial eye, and the benefits of all laws to be equally attainable by all men, without the smallest reference to the furniture of their pockets." Nicholas Nickleby

“These sequestered nooks are the public offices of the legal profession, where writs are issued, judgments signed, declarations filed, and numerous other ingenious machines put in motion for the torture and torment of His Majesty's liege subjects, and the comfort and emolument of the practitioners of the law.” The Pickwick Papers

The principle of open justice

"[The principle of open justice] is a cardinal principle of our justice system. It underpins the rule of law and our liberal democracy. It is a principle which requires the courts to engage with the public." LORD NEUBERGER OF ABBOTSBURY, Master of the Rolls for England & Wales, Judical Studies Board Annual Lecture 16th March, 2011

Huge gulf between rhetoric and reality

"The rule of law in Thailand, Cambodia, and most of Asia is weak or non-existent: apart from a number of states and territories, across the continent there is a huge gulf between the rule of law rhetoric and reality. In Thailand, the police force is an organized crime gang. In Cambodia, judges are proxies for the ruling political party….That a judge may harbour political prejudice or apply the law unevenly are the smallest worries for an ordinary criminal defendant in Asia. More likely ones are: Will the police fabricate the evidence? Will the prosecutor bother to show up? Will the judge fall asleep? Will I be poisoned in prison? Will my case be completed within a decade?" AWZAR THI, a member of the Asian Human Rights Commission.

A great vermin - corruption

"Money, they say, is the root of all evil. The bench is definitely not the place to make money. A corrupt judge is, thus, a great vermin, the greatest curse ever to afflict any nation. The passing away of a great advocate does not pose such public danger as the appearance of a corrupt and/or weak judge on the bench for, in the latter instance, the public interest is bound to suffer, and justice....... is thus depreciated and mocked and debased. It is far better to have an intellectually average, but honest judge, than a legal genius who is a rogue. Nothing is as hateful as venal justice, justice that is auctioned, justice that goes to the highest bidder." JUSTICE CHUKWUDIFU OPUTA, Judicial Services Commission, Nigeria.

Read more...

ACCESS OUR:

OpenTrial Gazette - Indonesia / Nigeria

Our magazine focuses on rule of law issues, projects, initiatives, latest developments, judicial transparency and reform.

OpenTrial Community

The OpenTrial International Online Community is for those concerned about justice-detracting violence and corruption in legal systems, and who wish to work for change through reform, exposure, networking, communicating and sharing with other like-minded people.

LEXPOSÉ: Prototype Legal System Exposé:

Click on a flag: /

By improving legal system and judicial transparency, through making information and data available, we aim to advance:

Objective and socially-transparent appointment processes that ensure the most competent candidates of high integrity are appointed as judges, police chiefs and prosecutors.
Legal system salaries that are commensurate with position, experience, performance and professional development; post transfers and case assignment based on objective criteria that do not cater to vested interests; and public scrutiny of the training of judges, police chiefs and prosecutors throughout their careers.
Read more...

	Join us at the International Convention on Open Justice to discuss how best to use modern technology to open up justice systems. Contact us if interested in attending/sponsoring it..
	International OpenTrial Court Monitoring - Observers Needed WHAT? - Court monitoring is a process of observing and gathering information on court practices and procedures and a vehicle for promoting improvements in the justice system. WHO? - Monitoring is best done by outside observers, Read more
	The Law's Majestic Equality. Economic, social, and procedural barriers prevent the great majority of poor people in the world from achieving justice in courts. But what happens where social and economic (SE) rightsare enshriined in constitutions? Then, according to Varun Gauri and Dan Brinks, the impact of courts is positive: very much pro-poor in India and South Africa, distribution-neutral in Indonesia and Brazil; but sharply anti-poor in Nigeria.
	US, clean up your act! OpenTrial opposes extradition to the US until basic fair trial criteria are satisfied there. Also see "Legitimising Legal Dysfunction" The Tyranny of Good Intentions. By: Paul Craig Roberts (a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury) and Lawrence M. Stratton. If you thought weak rule of law only exists in the developing world, think again, for here is an excellent, eye-opening book that exposes the shocking erosion of the rule of law in the U.S. more Also, read this New York Times article about police officers planting drugs, making false arrests, smuggling guns and being involved in corruption.
	Transparency International's Advocacy Toolkit is an excellent guide to combating judicial corruption in various countries. Team up with us to implement it. Click here for a pdf copy.
	Here we will be reviewing legal systems from around the world using the published findings of various bodies and professionals. more
	Here's an Oath to Justice to help revive the ethic of Aristides A quiet, steady man who loved justice and truth, Aristides was not interested in increasing his own wealth or prestige and despised mercenary motives in public men. Click here
	State-Power Piracy - under colour of official right A work-in-progress look at existing remedies and deterrents for state-power piracy with the view to possible consolidation into a template for a bill, for adaptation and enactment, which would make state-power piracy a serious criminal offence around the world, while at the same time ensuring judicial independence . more

	Fauziah Ibrahim, of Al Jazeera English, looks at Indonesia’s Justice System, and finds it riddled with corruption and incompetent investigative procedures, where trials and sentences are often deemed unfair. Also, OpenTrial provides more details as to why Indonesia’s court system is not credible and the danger this poses, particularly when death sentences are meted out for drug-related crimes.
	Strictly no (more) white elephants If today’s rule-of-law industry were in the private sector it would be on its last legs, or long extinct.
	Interpol Boss Sees Red Over Red Notices While concerns grow that Red Notices are not only being issued in violation of human rights, but also that corrupt police forces extend their reach with them, Interpol Chief, Ronald Noble, is angrily dismissive when probed. Click here to read a related article in The New Jurist.
	Judicial Independence & Nigeria’s Nascent Democracy The article examines the administration of justice in Nigeria’s nascent ‘democracy’, including the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, corruption in the judiciary, the delay in judicial process, etc.