Over 740,000 women and girls are held in prison worldwide. Women continue to make up a minority of the global prison population at 7%. However, women’s incarceration is growing at...

Poverty, abuse and discriminatory laws are driving a huge rise in the number of women in prison globally, according to a new report [supported by the Global Campaign to Decriminalise...

In November 2023, Lawyers Alert (LA) in collaboration with the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) provided critical legal and technical support to homeless individuals and informal traders whose shanties were...

Amnesty International, APCOF and Suaram organized this two-day workshop in Bangkok to strengthen alliances, including within the Campaign, and counter the rising criminalization of protesters and human rights defenders. The...

Prison Insider: People in prison across the world are among the most marginalised part of the population. Many have physical or mental health problems and experience difficulties relating to addictive...

Lawyers Alert: The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed 12 March for judgment in suit seeking to stop Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, and the Abuja Environmental Protection Board...

A two-day convening on "Decriminalizing Poverty and Status" took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on January 24-25, bringing together diverse voices from across South Asia to discuss the discrimination and...

Documenta: On March 28, 2023, Documenta filed an Amparo lawsuit challenging the conventionality of a provision in the Mexico City Penal Code that allows for persons with disabilities to be...

Campaign members supported recent efforts to decriminalise attempted suicide in Kenya. Watch the short explainer video about this ruling:

Jennifer Smith, ILF: Over the past year, the ILF has been working with the Campaign to Decriminalize Poverty and Status, civil society organizations, and independent experts around the world to...

In December of 2024, APCOF, Freedoms Collective Trust and the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights presented a paper titled “Decriminalising public space governance: the role of the police” at the...

ICJ-Kenya: Nairobi, KENYA – This past week, High Court Judge, Justice Lawrence Mugambi declared Section 226 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes attempted Suicide unconstitutional. The judgment continues to be...

Mara Kardas-Nelson writes for The Nation: Decades after independence, colonial-era laws have created a mass-incarceration crisis in Sierra Leone as poor citizens are thrown into prison for the smallest offenses....

FFJC: Des Moines, Iowa — Last week, the Iowa Supreme Court allowed the ACLU of Iowa, the Fines and Fees Justice Center, and Public Justice to file an amicus brief in State...

SALC: Lilongwe, Malawi – On 17 December 20204, the Malawi High Court will consider a challenge to the offence of criminal defamation under section 200 of the Penal Code. This challenge,...

SALC: Despite operating in a country where prostitution is not a crime, Malawian sex workers continue to face rampant abuse and exploitation. What is a crime is earning proceeds out...

Stricter Penalties for Theft and Drug Offenses Target Vulnerable Populations, Worsening Homelessness and Addiction Invisible People: Last September, Donald Trump promised that, if reelected, “We will immediately stop all of the...

https://youtu.be/Pp6VG7N1xRU?feature=shared Across the world and in Africa, women make up the majority of workers in the informal economy – mostly because of limited education, high levels of unemployment, inequality and...

Prison Insider: On Saturday 29 June 2024, Prison Insider hosted a workshop on the human and social cost of prison in Haiti, Tunisia, Morocco, and France, as part of Concertina, Coming...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

SALC: 30 July 2024, Blantyre – Yesterday,  the Mzuzu High Court ordered that 30 days should be the reasonable time envisaged under the Immigration Act within which deportation of undocumented immigrants ought to...

Joint Statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima As courts and parliaments in a number of countries are in the midst of considering...

Invisible People: San Francisco officials can begin conducting homeless sweeps again after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals partially withdrew a preliminary injunction against the city that had been in place...

SALC & CHREAA: Although the Constitution of Malawi provides for the protection of all children including migrant children, the continuous detention of these migrant minors has become a cause of...

SALC & CHREAA: Despite being a constitutional democracy, local authorities in Malawi continue to perpetuate the colonial legacy by criminalising poverty and inequality through the incessant administration of draconian colonial...

NHLC: In a profoundly disappointing ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court today decided that the US Constitution does not protect homeless people against cruel and unusual punishment, even when they have...

GENEVA (25 June 2024) – UN human rights experts have called on governments to scrap “cruel and counterproductive” laws that are leading to people living in homelessness and poverty being arrested, fined...

SALC: Freedom of expression, a fundamental right crucial for open dialogue, critical thinking, and societal progress, is under threat in Africa due to outdated and ambiguous legal frameworks. Citizens, journalists,...

SALC: In the last year, we have seen Parliaments in Africa enact laws that contradict court rulings in Namibia and Kenya. In Uganda, and Ghana, new laws go as far as to criminalising anyone who...

ICwS & ICJ: On 5 and 6 June 2024, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS) and its partners, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Commonwealth Secretariat (ComSec), held an Africa...

ILF: Around the world, criminal justice systems disproportionately penalize people who are poor, including through fines and fees. On May 15, 2024 on the sidelines of the UN Commission on...

SALC: Over the past five years, the highest courts in Namibia and Botswana have made significant decisions in favour of minority groups’ human rights through favourable judgements and court orders....

Amnesty International: Reacting to news that Moldova’s parliament has passed amendments to the country’s Criminal Code which redefine “high treason,” Veaceslav Tofan, Executive Director of Amnesty International Moldova, said: “The...

ICJ-Kenya: Nakuru, Kenya – Since time immemorial, Kenya’s culturally rich communities proudly championed and practiced their own forms of justice that was tethered in basic mechanisms and principles of reconciliation...

Peter Dimba, chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee in Parliament, has called for a thorough revision of the Penal Code, citing its numerous inconsistencies with the current Constitution. Dimba highlighted...

SALC: Some lawmakers have lamented [Malawian] Parliament’s delays to facilitate the review of Section 184 of the Penal Code, which provides for the offence of rogue and vagabond. The development...

INN: In March 2024, the 2nd Annual Global Freedom Fellowship, organized by Incarceration Nations Network, brought together 16 formerly incarcerated fellows from 13 countries for a life-changing experience of healing,...

Two years after it was filed at the regional court, a case challenging Sierra Leone’s laws on loitering has had its first day before judges at the Community Court of...

Prison Insider: Research findings and prevention work in collaboration with the prison administration Suicide and self-harm are major concerns in prisons around the world, with rates often significantly higher among...

SALC: In the centre of Southern Africa, we find one of the region’s most stable nations – Botswana. Having dominated the top spot in Africa for the respect of civil...

Parit Chiwarak, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, and Arnon Nampa dared to call for reform of the Thai monarchy at a 2020 protest. They were arrested, charged, put on trial and are facing...

Kenya: Majority of remandees are held for minor crimes ranging from being idle, disorderly, littering, begging, urinating in public, and hawking. This is the reason Julie Wayua, [ICJ-Kenya] is advocating...

Amnesty International: Authorities across East and Southern Africa continued to impose severe restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and media freedom over the past year, said Amnesty International...

https://youtu.be/qYzx4ZGQnc8 Invisible People: In this compelling documentary, Invisible People traveled to Grants Pass, Oregon, a picturesque city of about 40,000 residents, which is now at the forefront of a significant...

Amnesty International: Two young Thai activists were today indicted on ‘groundless’ royal defamation and computer crime charges, Amnesty International has said. Niraphorn “Bie” Onnkhaow, an Amnesty International Digital Rights Champion who recently...