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Too often we encounter people imprisoned for months or years before their trial even starts, who have no idea of their rights, no comprehension of the legal system and no legal aid to help them pay for a lawyer or interpreter.
From our offices in London, Brussels, and Washington, D.C., Fair Trials’ small team of dedicated and professional staff and volunteers make an enormous difference to people’s lives. We have helped thousands of people to defend the right to a fair trial. With your support we will continue to fight individual cases of injustice and will campaign for fair trials for people all over the world.
Campaigning is an integral part of our work improving fair trial rights around the world. In Europe, we are campaigning to put fair trials at the heart of EU justice. Every day in courts and police stations across Europe, hundreds of people experience violations of their basic rights. Although the EU has made important progress in addressing the persistent problems with criminal justice systems, there is still much more work to do before it can fulfil its vision of justice, freedom and security for all its citizens.
As a charity, Fair Trials relies entirely on the generosity of our supporters to carry out our important work. Without the donation of time and money, we would not be able to help the hundreds of people each year who contact us about being arrested, or work to transform fair trial rights around the world.
We also need help to spread the word online about our work. You can get involved by sharing our Tweets, posts, videos and articles with your friends, and keeping yourself up-to-date with the latest developments in our work by signing up to our newsletter, and following the News section of our website.
Volunteering
Like many other charities, Fair Trials draws on key support from volunteers to increase its impact. This takes many forms, from our LEAP network, to students who are able arrange internships through their institutions for academic credit. We also work closely with a number of city law firms whose staff work on different campaign areas with us.
Please contact us if you are interested in volunteering for Fair Trials and contributing to our work, or visit the vacancies page.
Fundraising
Organising a sponsored event is a great way to help us raise money, whilst raising awareness of fair trial issues in your local community.
Fair Trials is grateful to those supporters who help us meet our fundraising challenge – it could be anything, from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, to holding a bake sale. The sort of event you host is only limited by your imagination – so make sure it is something you will enjoy!
If you'd like to know more, then drop us an email. Here is our advice for successful fundraising:
We are always happy to hear what people are doing to raise funds.
Legacies
Leave a gift in your will
Since it was first established in 1992, Fair Trials has helped thousands of people imprisoned in countries across the world. We have prevented many high-profile miscarriages of justice and helped people return home to their families and loved ones.
One way to help us continue this important work for years to come is to consider leaving a gift in your will. Every legacy we receive can have a significant impact on our work, offering a lifeline to many more people.
If you are interested in leaving a lasting gift and would like to speak to someone from Fair Trials about it, please do not hesitate to be in touch.
Our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn channels will keep you up to date on our work and let you know how you can get involved.
You can connect with us on our social media channels to keep up to date with our latest news, advice and case studies. We also use it to highlight cases that we
Have you seen a story that you think we should care about? Then get in touch and let us know. Increasingly, as we’ve seen through movements like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter – using your voice on social media can really make a difference.
Throughout our site you’ll find links to share our stories or information to make it as easy as possible.
We don’t use our social media for any kind of direct assistance, so if you’re looking for help in your own case its better to first look through the information in our Need Help section, and if you can’t find the answers you’re looking for, then follow the prompts to get in touch with us over email.
You can also find individual staff members’ twitter accounts on their own staff pages.
Connect with us on LinkedIn here.
While you’re at it, you can also subscribe to our YouTube channel here.
That’s it for now, but we’ll let you know if and when we set up a Pinterest, or go back to our MySpace.
We are currently recruiting for the following positions in our Brussels office:
Trustees
Fair Trials is looking to renew its Board of Trustees by appointing up to four people to guide strategy and provide oversight as we work to advance the right to a fair trial across the globe.
Fair Trials is a unique human rights organisation that works to improve respect for the right to a fair trial. We believe fair trials are an essential part of a just society; that each person accused of a crime should have a fair legal process; and that fair trials make societies safer and stronger by building trust in criminal justice.
The right to a fair trial is not new but it's a right that is being abused across the globe with devastating human and social consequences. In fact, the right to a fair trial is facing new and growing threats: countries have found swifter ways of imposing convictions (often without a trial); funding for justice is being cut; and our rights are being sacrificed to appear “tough on crime”.
On our own, we could never realise our vision of a world where every person’s right to a fair trial is respected. We are therefore engaging and supporting a global movement of fair trial defenders: defence lawyers, leading human rights NGOs and universities. We are also fortunate to be supported by many of the world’s leading law firms who freely donate their time, resources and expertise.
This model means we don’t need to aspire to be a huge global organisation to achieve global change. We have however grown gradually over the past ten years to create a hub of committed and experienced staff across our offices in London, Brussels and, recently, Washington D.C.
We are proud to have achieved major legal reforms in Europe and beyond, which are already protecting people against miscarriages of justice and building fair and effective justice systems that benefit everyone.
We are renewing our excellent Trustee Board with the appointment of up to four new Trustees. We are looking for exceptional people who share our commitment to fair trials and who are driven to help guide our strategy and to oversee its delivery. We recognise the enormous benefits of a diverse board and encourage applications from a range of backgrounds and experiences.
You do not need to be an expert in human rights or criminal justice to apply: our Trustee Board is enriched by the wide mix of skills and perspectives that our Trustees offer. In particular, we would be keen to welcome people with experience of fundraising, communications and PR (especially online and social media), campaigning (especially international movement-building), finance (ideally, a qualified accountant), new technologies and policy-making.
Applications should be made by way of a short cover letter and CV by 12th November to [email protected], with “Trustee” in the subject.
For more information please see the Trustees’ role description here and you can contact Fair Trials’ Chief Executive, Jago Russell at [email protected]
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Like many charities Fair Trials relies on the support of volunteers to do its work. These positions at Fair Trials have a massive impact on the charitable work we do and are an opportunity to gain an excellent insight into our work and develop extensive professional skills.
