KL Guidelines
Regional Guidelines for Lawyers Representing Individuals Facing the Death Penalty and Execution in Asia
The KL Guidelines have been developed by a sustained collaboration among lawyers and civil society organisations across Asia in response to systemic rights violations in capital cases in the region.
Purpose
The KL Guidelines are intended primarily for lawyers who represent individuals facing the death penalty— irrespective of the nature of the offence or the lawyer’s level of experience.
Methodology
The KL Guidelines reflect lessons learned from comparative resources while centring the realities of defence lawyers working in the region. This initiative is led by and for Asian legal practitioners, recognising the unique institutional, resource, and procedural constraints that define capital litigation in Asia.
About us
Partners collaborating on the KL Guidelines are The Square Circle Clinic (formerly Project 39A) in India, Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) in Indonesia, Centre for Prisoners’ Rights in Japan, Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR), Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) in Singapore, Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP) and lawyers from China.
Ricky Gunawan, an Indonesian human rights lawyer with extensive experience in capital defence led the drafting process.
The Rights Practice facilitated the process and consultations.
Contact
This is an ongoing initiative, and the KL Guidelines are a living document.
We welcome feedback and questions.