Asia Fair Trial Practices Roundtable
Trust-Building Strategies When Assisting People Who Use Drugs Facing Criminal
The 2025 Fair Trials Roundtable Series will explore different aspects of fair trial rights, procedural fairness, and access to justice in criminal proceedings. As the first discussion in this series, this roundtable will focus on the intersection of fair trial rights and trust-building for persons dependent on drugs. Ensuring fair trial rights is essential to upholding justice and the rule of law, yet systemic biases, procedural irregularities, and discriminatory practices continue to undermine the rights of persons who use or are dependent on drugs. This session will bring together legal experts, medical professionals, and civil society representatives to examine how justice systems can build trust, ensure procedural fairness, and protect the rights of those facing drug-related criminal proceedings.
Date: 10 April 2025
Time:
Sydney: 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Bangkok: 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM
Mumbai: 12:30 PM to 3:00 PM
London: 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Platform: Zoom Application
Objectives
- Examine international legal frameworks that protect and promote fair trial rights for persons dependent on drugs, focusing on key treaties, conventions, and human rights instruments.
- Identify and analyse systemic challenges faced by persons dependent on drugs in criminal trials, including procedural irregularities such as unlawful arrests, lack of due process, coerced confessions, and the impact of stigma and discrimination.
- Explore best practices in trust-building to ensure fair trial protections, including strategies for effective legal representation, procedural transparency, and community engagement.
- Facilitate knowledge-sharing among experts, including legal practitioners, medical professionals, and human rights advocates, to discuss both legal and non-custodial approaches in drug-related cases.
- Engage participants in breakout discussions to develop practical legal guidance and advocacy tools aimed at strengthening fair trial rights and ensuring procedural fairness for persons dependent on drugs.
| Activity | Time (Bangkok Time) |
| Welcome and Introductions to the Roundtable Session Objectives | 2:00 – 2:20 pm |
| Overview of international framework to protect and promote FT rights of persons dependent on drugs | 2:20 – 2:50 pm |
|
Panel Discussion: Best Practices in Trust-Building for Fair Trials Breakout Session 1 – Understanding Drug Users’ Experiences in Criminal Trials Breakout Session 2 – Overcoming Stigma & Bias in Drug-related Court Cases Breakout Session 3 – Challenging Procedural Irregularities to Build Trust |
2:50 – 3:20 pm |
|
Best Practices sharing from breakout discussions |
3:20 – 3:50 pm |
| Next steps practice tips development | 3:50 – 4:20 pm |
| Concluding Remarks, Next Steps, Ways to be in the Fair Trial Regional Network | 4:20 – 4:30 pm |
Who Should Attend?
- Legal professionals and practitioners
- Paralegals and other professionals, including but not limited to social workers and healthcare providers
- Law journalists
- Law lecturers
- Judges
- Prosecutors
- Scholars and academics
- Researchers in the field of law and human rights
- Advocates for fair trial practices
- Civil society, NGOs, and individuals who are engaged in the work related to fair trial and pre-trial detention.
Download – Virtual Backgound
Contact
For more information, contact BABSEACLE team at [email protected]
Previous Roundtables
Ensuring Fair Trial Practices for Juveniles
28 November 2024
Strategies for Addressing Pre-Trial Detention
25 July 2024
Promoting the Rule of Law through Fair Evidence Practice
21 March 2024
Death Penalty and Serious Offences Sentence Mitigation, Strategies and Barriers
5 October 2023