OpenTrial, a Norfolk initiative, is the world's independent, civil check on legal systems. Only by engaging civil society can the rule of law properly spread and take hold around the world.

Click here to help empower civil society for justice

and the OpenTrial for Dignity & Justice Group on Other Norfolk groundbreakers include: Robert Walpole, first Prime Minister of Great Britain; Elizabeth Fry, prison and social reformer; Horatio Nelson, tactically and strategically inspirational naval leader; Thomas Paine, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual and one of the Founding Fathers of the U.S.; Charles Townshend, prominent protagonist in the British agricultural revolution; Edward Richardson, agricultural trade unionist; and Thomas William Coke, pro-civil liberties politician, agricultural reformer and supporter of American independence.

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

"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."

Testimonial

OpenTrial assists victims of legal system dysfunction.

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

CASES & PLACES TO WATCH

The cases in Turkey of Omur Cagdas Ersoy (charged with belonging to a left-wing armed faction that no longer exists) and Cengiz Dogan (a Kurd, effectively charged with being in two places at the same time). As the government gets tougher, it now has imprisoned: 500 students for the alleged membership of terrorist groups, around 76 journalists, 47 lawyers and thousands of Kurd sympathisers.

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

Latest: The trials of medical staff from the Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama, Bahrain, have been brought forward to 30th January. There are fears this is to thwart international monitoring by observers who arrive in March. Read 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

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

Read more

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We can help you and you can help us:

1. Express your solidarity with the peoples, societies, families and persons that are victims of injustice and spread the word about OpenTrial, by asking your friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter to do the same. This could exponentially increase our following.

2. If you know of a case of clear injustice, or one for which you fear injustice that would benefit from exposure, tell us and work with us to monitor it, put it online and/or bring it to the attention of those who could have a positive impact. We might also be able to give you help and advice in dealing with the legal and non-legal aspects of the injustice.

3. Use our site to provide information about your legal system (e.g. an overview, profiles of judges/legal system officials and other legal system data) to encourage openness and reform.

4. Consider becoming an OpenTrial court monitor (Click here)

5. Suggest how this site might be improved (Click here)

6. Submit and article for the OpenTrial Gazette

7. Help sustain and expand our work by making a donation

8. Help to monitor the activities of companies operating in the developing world that are from countries signed up to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials