Law Behind Bars

Available for over a year

Most people who face criminal charges in Kenya go to court without a lawyer. By the Kenyan judiciary’s own admission, this leads to a great deal of injustice. This programme meets an impressive group of prisoners who are acting as lawyers on behalf of themselves and their fellow inmates. Mostly by discovering flaws in the original cases, they are managing to get large numbers of convictions overturned at appeal. According to one Kenyan lawyer, these prisoner paralegals are much more effective than many of the professionals: after all, they have all the time, and the ultimate motivation of winning freedom. (Picture: Inmate paralegals meet to discuss a case, Credit: BBC)