All Updates
CNN Amanpour features Justice Defenders and paralegal Jane
One of our paralegals Jane shared her story with CNN International host Christiane Amanpour and our Founder Alexander McLean.
Read MoreCBS 60 Minutes features Justice Defenders
CNN News anchor Anderson Cooper traveled to Kenya to visit prison communities and see our work in legal education, training, and practise.
Read MorePR Newswire – 2020 Wise Awards Winners Announced
WISE, an initiative of Qatar Foundation (QF), has announced the winners of the 2020 WISE Awards, recognizing and promoting six innovative projects from across the world that address global educational challenges.
Read MoreNews Break – Alexander McLean named 2020 Grinnell Prize recipient
President Anne Harris announced on Wednesday that Alexander McLean, the founder and director general of international nonprofit organization Justice Defenders, has won the 2020 Grinnell College Innovator for Social Justice Prize.
Read MoreThe Sunday Times – The story of the Londoner bringing justice to East Africa
Justice Defenders enlists lawyers, prison officers, judges and British universities to provide legal training to inmates — some barely educated — so they can become their own advocates.
Read MoreTuko – Kamiti Prison: 10 inmates graduate with law degrees
At least 17 inmates, police officers and former convicts graduated from the Kamiti Maximum Prison in Nairobi with law degrees from the University of London on Thursday, October 31.
Read MoreForbes – Our world becomes rich when we don't write people off
In this Q&A, McLean talks about the project’s work, the loneliness of leadership and what we can learn from those living in poverty.
Read MoreA break in the clouds: silver linings from 2021
Justice Defenders Founder and CEO Alexander McLean reflects on the successes from our year. He shines a light on how the team inside and outside of prison have overcome adversity through bravery, humility and solidarity.
Read MoreCelebrating Black academic excellence
This month, as we celebrate with our 28 University of London students who have recently received their exam results, it gives us pause to reflect.
Read MoreOur manifesto: responding to the grassroots need for justice in the US and beyond
As we respond to the mandate of the people, we remain grounded by our values of solidarity, humility, and bravery. To navigate the immense opportunities to scale our work, we are listening deeply to the grassroots need.
Read MoreVoices from our paralegals: “Justice means to me…”
Ahead of World Day for International Justice on Saturday 17 July 2021, we asked our trained paralegals in prisons across Kenya and Uganda what justice means to them.
Read MoreAn update on our work during Covid-19
With Covid-19 cases on the rise in East Africa, Justice Defenders Country Directors Karen Saidi and Miriam Wachira provide an insight into how our work has been affected.
Read MoreJustice Defenders' students are shortlisted in the Nelson Mandela Moot Court Competition
Having successfully progressed to the next round, Justice Defenders’ students will compete against teams from across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe.
Read MoreSix factors you need to deliver justice
Through exploring our work, Former Commissioner with the UK’s aid watchdog Diana Good identifies the principles needed to deliver justice.
Read MorePunitive sentencing for petty offences; vestiges of colonial times.
In East Africa young people are persistently caught up in drug trafficking, loitering and pickpocketing charges, resulting in long periods in prison. Here Draconian laws still apply, yet to be reviewed for the 21st Century. So laws often criminalise and marginalise the people with least in society.
Read MorE“My 13-year imprisonment was a setup. They never wanted us to get married.”
Despite having the paperwork to prove Emily’s age and his innocence, Simon was convicted of aggravated defilement. No court would hear his appeal, so Simon spent 13 years in prison for a crime he, and Emily, says he didn’t commit.
Read MorEThe law: Enforcing it, breaking it, studying it. One man's journey
When he used to work as a police officer, Gilbert would take people to prison with little thought about fair trials or sentencing. Until he found himself in conflict with the law he once administered.
Read MorEWhat's the impact of a university degree, if you still have many years left in prison?
Degrees mean extra responsibilities. Four students and graduates in Kenya and Uganda have been promoted to the highly trusted position of 'trusteeship'.
Read MorEReconciliation of self and community
Amateur chef Pepe Ivan Matovu recalls how he found hope, healing and restoration in one of Uganda’s most populous prisons.
Read MorEAdapting to the pandemic: Reconnecting people in prisons with their loved ones.
For people in prison, visits from family used to offer a moment of reassurance. Connection with the outside world. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, visitations are paused. Isolating many from those they love. Until recently. We’ve worked to repurpose our technology and reconnect families in Kenya.
Read MorE“You are successful when you remember that somewhere, someone gave you a gift.”
Sentenced to death for robbery, Joyce tried not to let her sentence define her. While in prison, she found a new love for making clothes.
Read MorE