The ILF was founded in 2001 to address the global crisis in access to legal aid. The ILF’s mission is to make justice a reality for poor people by fighting to guarantee high-quality legal representation for everyone arrested or detained. Around the world, we provide criminal defence services and build sustainable, effective legal aid institutions. To date, ILF lawyers and our partners have represented close to 100,000 people accused of crimes in Afghanistan, Kenya, Myanmar, Nepal, Palestine, and Tunisia and we have trained thousands of lawyers to provide quality legal aid services in many more countries. The ILF also performs high-level advocacy, pushing countries, international institutions, and donors to prioritize legal aid as a fundamental human right and as crucial to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

From the ground up, we train and empower lawyers to be proactive advocates capable of providing high-quality criminal defence services. Mentoring is carried out by experienced international criminal defence lawyers, known as International Fellows, who volunteer to work in the ILF’s legal aid offices on three-month rotations, acting as senior associates to their local colleagues. The ILF’s advocacy also catalyses changes across justice systems. Case by case, our lawyers transform their criminal justice systems and strengthen the rule of law. The ILF has won notable victories in the trial courts of every country where we’ve worked. We’ve won the release of clients who languished in detention for years. We’ve secured acquittals for innocent men, women, and children. We’ve also won landmark legal victories in the appellate and high courts. Around the world, our lawyers are sought after as trainers and advisers. They are prominent human rights defenders who regularly provide technical assistance to organizations, governments, and justice sector partners on criminal justice and legal aid system reform.