The Death Penalty Project Charitable Trust

Our vision is a world where the death penalty no longer exists, with strong and fair criminal justice systems that uphold human rights and offer access to justice for all.

Our mission is to restrict and end capital punishment worldwide, protect the human rights of people in prison and promote fair and effective criminal justice systems.

Our work is rooted in a simple but profound belief: the death penalty is wrong, for all people in all circumstances. It is cruel, discriminatory, arbitrary and irreversible. We are committed to upholding the rights of people facing death sentences, but this work is not straightforward – so how do we do it?

We take legal action

First and foremost, we are lawyers. We use the law to restrict and end the death penalty and promote fair and effective criminal justice systems.

We take policy action

Ending the death penalty also happens effectively through political reform: in almost all countries that have abolished, the process has been parliament-led. At both the domestic and international level, we influence and invigorate evidence-based dialogue about criminal justice policy, building momentum for abolition.

We work in partnership

Partnerships with civil society, legal professionals and diplomatic missions are central to our approach. We combine our death penalty expertise with their local knowledge and networks to take impactful action.

We are making huge progress, but the fight for justice and dignity continues

When our work first began, only 20 countries had abolished death penalty. We have come a long way. Some 124 countries have now consigned the punishment to history. The Death Penalty Project has been instrumental in achieving abolition of the mandatory death penalty in 13 countries, and in the last five years alone, we have contributed to outlawing capital punishment for ordinary or all crimes in Sierra Leone, Ghana and, most recently, Zimbabwe. We currently work in more than 20 countries and in any one year provide legal representation and assistance to more than 70 people.

But the work continues – and remains incredibly urgent. Executions are on the rise, meaning less countries are killing more people. More than 28,000 people globally are estimated to be on death row. This means we have never been more in need of support from people like you, who have fuelled this work for decades and are the most critical ingredient in global momentum towards abolition.

The Death Penalty Project has two legal entities - a charitable trust (no. 1115035) and a limited company (no. 05579286). The charitable trust is a sister charity that provides funds to the limited company. They have a joint framework agreement and separate governance structures. We receive grants and donations from donors to both entities, depending on the donor's preference. All donations made via this platform are to the charitable trust.