User:Ratio Scripta/The Death Penalty Project

The Death Penalty Project was originally established in 1992 it concentrated on appeals in individual capital cases from the Caribbean and applications to international human rights tribunals. Since 2003 The Death Penalty Project has also been assisting lawyers and NGOs in a number of African countries in criminal and constitutional cases being brought on behalf of prisoners facing the death penalty. The organisation aims to achieve its objectives in four main ways through free legal representation and advice, strategic litigation, consultation and research and training. The Death Penalty Project works with a number of barristers, academics and medical experts in the UK and abroad whose pro bono assistance enables prisoners under sentence of death and without financial resources or legal aid to pursue the criminal, constitutional and international remedies to which they are entitled. More than fifty death row prisoners who failed to receive fair trials and were the victims of miscarriages of justice had their convictions quashed.

History
Saul Lehrfreund MBE and Parvais Jabbar are the co-founders and joint Executive Directors of The Death Penalty Project, they are based at Simons Muirhead & Burton solicitors in London. They are leading experts in the area of human rights and the death penalty. In 1995, The Death Penalty Project won the category of “best pro bono activity” at the inaugural ‘UK Lawyer Awards’.

Free Legal Representation
The Death Penalty Project are currently working on cases from various countries including Antigua, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Grenada, Jamaica, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Nigeria, St Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Taiwan, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Charitable Trust
In 2005 the Death Penalty Project Charitable Trust was founded, with Anthony Burton, senior partner of Simons Muirhead & Burton, as its chair. The Death Penalty Project Charitable Trust is registered with the UK Charities Commission under the registered charity number 1115035.

The objects of the Charitable Trust are: to promote and protect human rights in the Caribbean, Anglophone African countries and elsewhere, particularly the rights of individuals accused of crimes that are punishable by death and of those who have been sentenced to death; to promote the sound administration of the law; to advance education, research and training in domestic and international law (including international human rights law), and in particular the operation of the death penalty. The Charitable Trust seeks to achieve its objectives through a variety of activities, including: the payment of donations to organisations who seek to meet similar objectives the provision of free legal representation prisoners under sentence of death who would not otherwise have access to legal advice; consultation with and training of lawyers, judges, non-government organisations (NGOs) and human rights workers, both in the UK and elsewhere, thus promoting capacity building, increased awareness and dialogue; the development, commissioning and dissemination of appropriate studies and research.

The Trustees of the Charity are:


 * Anthony Burton (chair), senior partner, Simons Muirhead & Burton, solicitors
 * Edward Fitzgerald (barrister) CBE QC, Head of Chambers, Doughty Street Chambers
 * James Guthrie QC, Head of Chambers, 3 Hare Court
 * Philip Kirkpatrick, partner, Bates Wells & Braithwaite, solicitors
 * Sarah Morrison, partner, Head of Charities Unit, Littlejohn
 * Simon Goldberg, partner, Simons Muirhead & Burton, solicitors