DEFEND the
DEFENCELESS

After surviving death row in Uganda, Betty Florence Mbatudde found a new path through legal education. Today, she works with Justice Defenders, using the law to support others and pursue her goal of becoming an advocate.

In a recent conversation on the Pursuing Justice podcast, Alexander McLean reflects on the origins of Justice Defenders and the model it has built across prisons in East Africa; grounded in proximity, legal education, and lived experience.

In marking International Women’s Month, we celebrate some of the women inside prisons in Kenya and Uganda who are delivering justice and transforming lives as paralegals, officers, and leaders.

We attended the 2026 Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting in Fiji to share our model for justice reform and to convene ministers inside a prison for the very first time.

Hosted by We Are One Humanity, Hamisi Mzari and Isaac Ndegwa share how expanding access to legal education in prisons can uphold human dignity, strengthen institutions, and advance meaningful justice reform.

Jimmy and Gilbert began their legal studies behind the walls. One incarcerated, one a prison officer. Both are now on the path to qualifying as attorneys.

After twenty years of working inside prisons, our founder reflects on a radical idea that has become a global movement: incarcerated people and prison staff becoming lawyers and transforming justice from within. A new CNN documentary now brings this vision to light.

Meet Phionah. She is part of our unlikely community. Her commitment to justice led her to serve clients alongside fellow paralegals, both incarcerated women and prison officers.

Challenging Uganda’s laws, Justice Defenders helped end decades of indefinite detention for people with mental illness, securing releases, treatment, and long-overdue legal reform.

From prison yards to courtrooms, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated legal practitioners are using strategic litigation to reshape the law and expand justice for the defenceless.

When UK Supreme Court Justice Lord Michael Briggs visited prisons in Uganda, he encountered love, justice, and hope in one of the most unexpected places. Read his reflections in the full report.

Meet the class of 2025: seven people in Kenyan prisons beginning their University of London law degrees this November. They will study from custody, following in Nelson Mandela’s footsteps. Get to know and journey with them.

In the midst of the COVID crisis, our justice defenders were able to continue their work amongst our communities contributing to the review process of the Kenya Judiciary to ensure equal justice for all.