What Fair Trials does

Fair Trials is an international nonprofit criminal justice watchdog founded in 1992 by human rights lawyer Stephen Jakobi OBE, originally as Fair Trials Abroad. The organisation operates through three legal entities — Fair Trials International (UK-registered charity, 2010 incorporation; HQ London), Fair Trials Europe (Belgian public foundation, founded May 2014; Brussels), and Fair Trials Americas (US 501(c)(3), founded 2018; Washington DC) — and campaigns for fair trial rights across Europe, Latin America, the UK, and the US. Its core service lines include a searchable Resource Hub (news, legal analysis, reports, toolkits), original publications, strategic litigation, legal analysis, films and documentaries, case studies, and information/toolkits for lawyers and accused individuals; flagship programmes include the Fair Trials Index (a comparative index built with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) and the Plea Bargaining Institute (with Belmont University College of Law).

The organisation is funded by charitable grants and donations, including the European Union's Justice Programme (2021-2027) and project-specific support from the Swedish Postcode Lottery for the REDD network in Mexico. It does not develop proprietary technology products; its value is delivered through advocacy, research, strategic litigation, and the operation of multi-stakeholder networks — notably LEAP (200+ organisational members across all 27 EU Member States), JUSTICIA, EIPAC, NEAC, and REDD — that bring together law firms, civil society, academics, policymakers, and people with lived experience of the criminal justice system. Recent strategic priorities include INTERPOL reform, plea bargaining safeguards (the 98% US plea-bargaining resolution rate is a key campaign statistic), AI and criminal justice oversight (including observer status on the Council of Europe Committee on AI), and extradition reform. The organisation is governed by a volunteer board of trustees with multiple C-suite roles currently held in interim capacity following the post-2021 leadership transition from Jago Russell to Norman L. Reimer.

Name

Fair Trials

Legal name

Fair Trials International

Website

https://fairtrials.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Fair Trials is an international nonprofit criminal justice watchdog, founded in 1992 and operating across Europe, Latin America, the UK, and the US through offices in London, Brussels, and Washington DC. It campaigns for fair trial rights via research, strategic litigation, and coalition networks serving lawyers, policymakers, civil society, and people accused of crimes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Criminal Justice Advocacy and Legal Reform Services

NAICS

Legal Services (5411), Other Legal Services (54119)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Defense & Legal Aid Services (BPAIAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Prosecution & District/State Attorney Services (BPAIAFAB), Transitional Justice, Accountability & Reparations (BPADAGAL)

Keywords

• Criminal justice advocacy
• Fair trial rights
• Legal policy research
• Strategic litigation support
• Criminal justice reform

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Charitable Grants and Donations: Fair Trials is funded by a combination of charitable grants and donations from various sources. Some activities are funded by the European Union's Justice Programme (2021-2027). The organization also receives funding from entities such as the Swedish Postcode Lottery for specific projects like the REDD network in Mexico.

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Fair Trials is a nonprofit criminal-justice watchdog that campaigns for fair and equal criminal justice systems through original research, strategic litigation, and international advocacy. Its substantive offerings include the searchable Resource Hub of news, legal analysis and toolkits, strategic litigation support, original publications and legal analysis, the Fair Trials Index benchmarking criminal-justice systems against international human-rights standards, and the Plea Bargaining Institute — all delivered free of charge to lawyers, policymakers, civil society organisations, and individuals affected by criminal justice systems across Europe, Latin America, the UK and the US.

Product overview

Fair Trials is a criminal justice watchdog organization (not a technology product company) that provides advocacy, research, and resource services. Its offerings include a searchable Resource Hub containing news, legal analysis, reports, and toolkits; Publications with original research on criminal justice issues; Strategic Litigation support; Legal Analysis of legislation and policies; Information & Toolkits for lawyers and accused individuals; Films documenting threats to fair trial rights; Case Studies showing human impact of injustice; and the Fair Trials Index initiative (in partnership with Freshfields) to compare criminal justice systems. The organization also operates the Plea Bargaining Institute as a global reform hub. These are advocacy and informational services, not commercial technology products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LEAP (Legal Experts Advisory Panel): A network of over 200 organizational members representing law firms, civil society organisations, and academic institutions from across the 27 EU Member States working to promote fair trial rights in Europe
• JUSTICIA European Rights Network
• EIPAC (European Impacted Persons Advisory Council)
• NEAC (Network for Early Access to Counsel)
• Plea Bargaining Institute (PBI)
• Fair Trials Index

Quantifiable outcome

• INTERPOL reforms achieved since 2015, including policy adoption for refugees, improved Red Notice checking procedures, and overhaul of Commission for the Control of INTERPOL's Files
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLPflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFair Trials Europe has teamed up with international law firm Freshfields to create the Fair Trials Index Project. The index will compare different countries' criminal justice systems and score them on fairness and compliance with international human rights standards. Launched in 2021, preliminary research began in 2024, with main research stage entering data-analysis methodology development. Project aimed to run until 2028 in design stage.
• Belmont University College of LawcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFair Trials partnered with Belmont University College of Law Professor Lucian E. Dervan to launch the Plea Bargaining Institute (PBI). This is a groundbreaking project providing a global intellectual home for academics, policymakers, advocacy organizations and practitioners working in the plea bargaining space.
• Instituto de Justicia Procesal Penal (Mexico)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreated the REDD (Red de Defensores/as Democraticos/as) network of defence lawyers and criminal justice and human rights experts in Mexico. Funded by the Swedish Postcode Lottery. REDD fights against torture, promotes the right to a fair trial and develops effective litigation tools for the exclusion of evidence obtained under torture.
• Council of Europe Committee on AI (CAI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFair Trials is an observer member of the Council of Europe Committee on AI working on a legally binding convention on AI, human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Working to include recognition of the fundamental harms of predictive, profiling and other data-driven systems in law enforcement and criminal justice.
• JUSTICIA European Rights NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJUSTICIA is a network of leading civil society organisations from across Europe that acts as a working group within LEAP. Works on protecting human rights in places of detention in Europe, including during COVID-19 crisis.
• Fair and Just ProsecutioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFair Trials and Fair and Just Prosecution co-hosted a webinar on youth interrogation in the US, where national and international criminal justice experts and leaders discussed reforms needed to ensure adequate protections for young people throughout the interrogation process.
• Juan E. MéndezcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLed the group of experts that published the Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering (the Méndez Principles) in 2021. Fair Trials' Rebecca Shaeffer and Verónica Hinestroza were part of the expert committee.
• European CommissionflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerIn 2011, the European Commission carried out a consultation on detention in the EU following advocacy from Fair Trials. Fair Trials continues to advocate for EU monitoring of state practices and adoption of common standards on pre-trial detention as part of Rule of Law monitoring reports.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Reprieve: UK- and US-based NGO that campaigns against wrongful convictions, the death penalty, and abuse of state power, with strategic litigation capacity closely mirroring Fair Trials' approach and overlapping campaigns on extradition and INTERPOL.
• Brennan Center for Justice: US-based justice reform organization working on criminal justice reform, AI in policing, and access to counsel — overlapping directly with Fair Trials Americas' NEAC network, plea bargaining, and predictive policing campaigns.
• Vera Institute of Justice: US-based organization pursuing safe and just criminal justice systems through research, technical assistance, and advocacy; addresses pre-trial detention and plea bargaining reform that intersect directly with Fair Trials' campaign priorities.
• The Sentencing Project: US-focused research and advocacy organization on sentencing, mass incarceration, and criminal justice reform; directly comparable to Fair Trials Americas on US criminal justice issues and campaigns.
• Howard League for Penal Reform: UK-based penal reform charity working on criminal justice policy and the rights of people in detention, with a comparable advocacy, research, and campaign model to Fair Trials' UK operations.
• Penal Reform International: International NGO working on criminal justice reform and the rights of people in detention worldwide, with overlapping campaigns on pre-trial detention, non-custodial measures, and fair trial standards comparable to Fair Trials' work.

Broad incumbents

• Open Society Justice Initiative: Part of the Open Society Foundations, the Justice Initiative pursues strategic litigation and advocacy on human rights and criminal justice globally, including pre-trial detention and fair trial issues directly comparable to Fair Trials' work.
• Amnesty International: Global human rights organization with a dedicated fair trial rights portfolio covering pre-trial detention, torture, and criminal procedural rights; broader mandate and larger scale than Fair Trials but with significant overlap on European and international justice advocacy.
• Human Rights Watch: Investigates and reports on human rights abuses globally including criminal justice issues such as pre-trial detention, police abuse, and INTERPOL misuse; competes with Fair Trials for research influence and donor attention in the justice space.

Others

• International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute: Global legal profession body focused on rule of law and fair trial rights, often engaging on issues parallel to Fair Trials' INTERPOL, AI in justice, and procedural rights advocacy through professional networks and international institutions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fairtrials
• Facebookfacebook.com/fairtrials

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fair Trials