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

ACCESS OUR:

'Law on Trial' 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 -

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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.
Complaints against judges, who must give reasons for their decisions, being made public; removal processes for judges that are fair and transparent; and public awareness of judicial codes of conduct and any whistleblower policy.
The publication of annual reports on legal system activities and spending; reliable public access to information pertaining to laws, proposed changes in legislation, and such matters as court procedures and judgements.
Periodic public asset and conflict of interest disclosure in relation to judges, police chiefs and prosecutors; the wide dissemination of information about due process rights; and civil society engagement, research, monitoring and reporting.