Across the world, outdated laws as well as some newer laws are continually used to unfairly target poor and marginalised people because of who they are, rather than what they have done. In parallel, there is an increase in the use of criminal law to suppress activism and quell dissent. This often has a devastating impact on those who are already vulnerable.

In effect, States routinely use the justice system against people for reasons that have little to do with citizen safety, but rather to protect the inherited boundaries of power, wealth, and privilege. This abuse of power has a profound human rights cost, manifesting in discrimination, use of lethal force, torture, excessive imprisonment, inhumane conditions of detention and social, political and economic exclusion.

There is a clear and urgent need to decriminalise laws that treat poverty, status, or activism, as a crime.
The Global Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status is a coalition of organisations from across the world that advocate for the repeal of laws, reform of policies and change in practices, that target people based on poverty, status or for their activism.

Across the world, outdated laws as well as some newer laws are continually used to unfairly target poor and marginalised people because of who they are, rather than what they have done. In parallel, there is an increase in the use of criminal law to suppress activism and quell dissent. This often has a devastating impact on those who are already vulnerable.

In effect, States routinely use the justice system against people for reasons that have little to do with citizen safety, but rather to protect the inherited boundaries of power, wealth, and privilege. This abuse of power has a profound human rights cost, manifesting in discrimination, use of lethal force, torture, excessive imprisonment, inhumane conditions of detention and social, political and economic exclusion.

There is a clear and urgent need to decriminalise laws that treat poverty, status, or activism, as a crime.

The Global Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status is a coalition of organisations from across the world that advocate for the repeal of laws, reform of policies and change in practices, that target people based on poverty, status or for their activism.

themed collections

Over the years, campaign partners have worked collaboratively on specific areas and approaches, such as vagrancy and nuisance-related laws, homelessness, and strategic litigation, compiling collections of resources and strategies that have led to successful law reform. 

recent updates

AdvocAid: Freetown, 7 November 2024: In a landmark judgment, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice has ruled in favour of AdvocAid in a case...
Posted: 8 November, 2024
Invisible People: Why transgender individuals face higher risks of homelessness and how discrimination contributes to the growing crisis A growing number of gender nonconforming and transgender people are experiencing homelessness...
Posted: 29 October, 2024
ICwS: The Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS) and its partners, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Commonwealth Secretariat  launched a new Practitioner’s Guide on the decriminalisation of poverty and status at a packed...
Posted: 28 October, 2024
ICwS: On 9 and 10 September 2024, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS) and its partners, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Commonwealth Secretariat (ComSec), held an Asia and Caribbean regional...
Posted: 7 October, 2024
ICJ-Kenya: NAIROBI, Kenya – The Africa Litigation Surgery Conference kicked off in earnest with delegates from across the continent converging in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. Under the theme, pushing back against...
Posted: 30 July, 2024
Amnesty International: Responding to reports of the arrest and detention of student leaders, protest participants and members of opposition parties following the quota-reform protests, with over 9000 arrests over the...
Posted: 30 July, 2024
AdvocAid: Freetown, 7 November 2024: In a landmark judgment, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice has ruled in favour of AdvocAid in a case...
Posted: 8 November, 2024
Invisible People: Why transgender individuals face higher risks of homelessness and how discrimination contributes to the growing crisis A growing number of gender nonconforming and transgender people are experiencing homelessness...
Posted: 29 October, 2024
ICwS: The Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS) and its partners, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Commonwealth Secretariat  launched a new Practitioner’s Guide on the decriminalisation of poverty and status at a packed...
Posted: 28 October, 2024

latest resources

This Practitioners’ Guide addresses the global, growing trend towards the wrongful criminalisation of conduct associated with poverty, homelessness and status by presenting a human rights-based approach to criminal law, based ...
Year: 2024
On February 9, 2024, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) lifted the moratorium on executions that had been in place since 2003. This decision comes amid a ...
Year: 2024
A touch of green on prison administrations The climate is changing, and the environmental is deteriorating. Public institutions are being forced to radically review the way they operate. Prison administrations ...
Year: 2024
How correctional administrations are responding to the climate crisis The surge in climate-related disasters is creating unprecedented challenges for public institutions, and prison administrations are no exception. Many prisons, often ...
Year: 2024

upcoming events

1 December, 2024
to 4 December, 2024
The Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Pretoria and the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association are...

the stories

Stories gathered by campaign members and other organisations help expose the havoc that the use and abuse of these laws wreak on the lives of the already vulnerable. The campaign uses these stories to communicate to various stakeholders and advocate for systemic change.

All over the world, criminal justice systems misuse overly broad and discriminatory laws that are rooted in the age of empire to criminalize people  for who they are rather than for what they have done and quell dissent. The ‘Residue & Ruin’ photo exhibition, curated by Luvuyo Equiano Nwayose for the Campaign, highlights the impact these laws have on those who fall victim to their abuse.

All over the world, criminal justice systems misuse overly broad and discriminatory laws that are rooted in the age of empire to criminalize people  for who they are rather than for what they have done and quell dissent. The ‘Residue & Ruin’ photo exhibition, curated by Luvuyo Equiano Nwayose for the Campaign, highlights the impact these laws have on those who fall victim to their abuse.

campaign members

Our coalition members are organisations from across the world, working on improving criminal justice systems to ensure that human rights for respected for all. They work collaboratively through legal reform, litigation, advocacy, policy, capacity building and research to make change happen.

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The Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status is a coalition of organisations from across the world that advocate for the repeal of laws that target people based on poverty, status or for their activism.

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