Asia Fair Trial Practices Roundtable

Death Penalty and Serious Offences Sentence Mitigation, Strategies and Barriers

5 October 2023

The Asia Fair Trial Practices Roundtable on Death Penalty and Serious Offences Sentence Mitigation, Strategies and Barriers is a dynamic and valuable platform of legal experts, scholars, civil society organizations, journalists, researchers and legal practitioners who are working on death penalty cases across Asia.

Organized by BABSEACLE, the Asia Fair Trial Roundtable on Death Penalty and Serious Offences Sentence Mitigation, Strategies, and Barriers took place on October 5, 2023. This event witnessed the participation of more than 75 dedicated individuals, including lawyers, representatives from bar associations, civil society advocates, law lecturers, university faculty, and law students. The attendees hailed from diverse corners of Asia and beyond, representing countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, England, the USA, and Vietnam.

An impressive 132 individuals registered for the event, with a significant 16% of registrants originating from Vietnam, totaling 21 participants. The high level of interest translated into active participation, with 58% of registrants attending the roundtable discussion. This figure included 19% of Vietnamese participants who played a vital role in the discussions.

The event was conducted in English, and simultaneous interpretation services were made available to accommodate Vietnamese attendees. With the invaluable support of a dedicated volunteer from BABSEACLE, Vietnamese participants were able to actively engage in the discussion, both verbally and through chat. Lawyer Ngoc Trai, for instance, enthusiastically shared his experiences in handling criminal cases related to fair trial issues in Vietnam.

This report will delve deeper into the questions and comments raised by Vietnamese participants in a separate section, showcasing their vital contributions to the discussion.

Roundtable session objectives

This event aims to foster a meaningful and insightful dialogue on fair trial practices and principles related to death penalty cases, with a core focus on sentence mitigation, strategies and challenges. The objectives include:

• Raise awareness of the right to a fair trial for the accused in particularly serious criminal cases with varying thematic focuses
• Create a sustainable and collaborative network of Fair Trial Practices in Asia region and across regions
• Discuss issues of national and international practice regarding the protection of rights in compliance with the principles of fair trial
• Provide the opportunity to share experiences and learn from others in order to discover new strategies
• Drive systemic change in the criminal justice system in accordance with the rule of law.