To mark the 18th World Day Against the Death Penalty – celebrated this 10 October – members of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP) have decided to shine a light on the right to effective legal representation and the devastating consequences its denial has in capital cases. Throughout the world, civil society organizations are raising awareness on this issue at the heart of what defines justice. Among these, PGA and the WCADP have released a Parliamentary Factsheet on the Death Penalty and Access to Effective Legal Representation.
To launch this practical tool, PGA organized a discussion on access to effective legal representation in capital cases and what actions legislators can take to address and remedy this issue in their respective countries and globally.
This webinar took place on 9 October.
Biographies:
Hon. Kasthuri Patto
Hon. Patto is a Malaysian politician from the Democratic Action Party and represents the Batu Kawan Constituency in Penang since 2013. In her country, she continues to raise awareness of the impact of small and light weapons on women and children, the need to end child, early and forced marriage and to abolish the death penalty. Since 2015, she has been an active part of PGA’s Campaign for the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Malaysia and throughout the world and is now a member of PGA’s Executive Committee.
Mr. Parvais Jabbar
Mr. Parvais Jabbar is the co-founder and co-executive director of the Death Penalty Project, an international legal action charity based at the United-Kingdom law firm Simons Muirhead & Burton. For over 25 years, he has specialised in representing individuals facing the death penalty around the world at the appellate level and before international bodies. A recognised expert on the death penalty, he has led and participated in delegations focusing on criminal justice reform and abolition of the death penalty to a wide range of audiences, including the judiciary and legal profession, parliamentarians and the diplomatic community.