The Evidence

To mark 50 years of fighting the death penalty, our Five Conversations film series traces the moments, clients and partnerships that have shaped our history and continue to inform our work as we look to the future. This episode, The Evidence, examines common misconceptions about capital punishment, what empirical research tells us and how we use it.

In this conversation, Professor Carolyn Hoyle, Director of the Death Penalty Research Unit, University of Oxford, and Professor Jon Yorke, Director of the Centre for Human Rights at Birmingham City University, explore some of the most common misconceptions surrounding capital punishment. They examine what decades of empirical research reveal about the realities of death penalty systems in practice, and how this evidence can be used to influence criminal justice reform worldwide.
In this conversation, Professor Carolyn Hoyle, Director of the Death Penalty Research Unit, University of Oxford, and Professor Jon Yorke, Director of the Centre for Human Rights at Birmingham City University, explore some of the most common misconceptions surrounding capital punishment. They examine what decades of empirical research reveal about the realities of death penalty systems in practice, and how this evidence can be used to influence criminal justice reform worldwide.

Our Anniversary Campaign: 50 years of fighting capital punishment

50 years ago, Simons Muirhead Burton represented Michael de Freitas in a high-profile death penalty case in Trinidad and Tobago. Michael was executed, sparking a commitment within the firm to take on more death penalty cases. This marked the beginning of what would become The Death Penalty Project.

When this work began in the 1970s, only 20 countries had abolished the death penalty. Today, that number stands at 125. But the fight is far from over. More than 28,000 people are estimated to be on death row worldwide, and executions are on the rise.

We are death penalty experts, taking action alongside our partners for criminal justice reform where the death penalty and its legacy still exists. After five decades of impactful action, we need your support to continue to fuel our work until the death penalty has ended, everywhere.

Make a donation to our Anniversary Fund today