directly to legal matters, yet they are fundamental to preserving the trust and rapport between lawyers and their clients. National bar councils or legal professional bodies should take proactive steps to guarantee that lawyers have full and timely access to their clients at all times, particularly during pre-trial detention when rights violations are most likely to occur. 14. Lawyers must prioritise clear and accessible communication by employing qualified interpreters, culturally sensitive communication methods, and visual or simplified materials where necessary, to help address language or literacy barriers. This approach is particularly vital for foreign nationals and individuals from marginalised communities who may face systemic disadvantages within the legal system. By ensuring clients fully understand their rights, the charges against them, and the legal proceedings, lawyers enhance trust, mitigate power imbalances, and strengthen the overall quality of defence representation. Access to Experts 15. Lawyers must collaborate with forensic experts, mental health professionals, mitigation specialists, and other relevant experts to strengthen their cases and ensure that every aspect of the defence is comprehensively developed. Clients facing the death penalty must also have meaningful access to these experts, allowing them to participate in assessments, present relevant medical or psychological evidence or history, and strengthen mitigation arguments. In instances where local resources are insufficient, regional partnerships should be fostered to ensure access to specialised expertise. Expert testimony plays a pivotal role in bolstering defence arguments by offering critical insights, particularly in establishing mitigating circumstances or diminished responsibility. It is essential that experts engaged in capital defence cases operate with independence and remain free from institutional bias, ensuring that their assessments and testimonies are based on the highest professional integrity rather than external pressures. This independence is particularly crucial when advocating for state allocation of resources to support expert access, as reliance on government-appointed specialists may raise concerns about impartiality and undue influence. Beyond individual cases, lawyers should actively advocate for the institutionalisation of such collaborations, urging governments and relevant institutions to allocate sufficient resources and establish mechanisms for sustained access to independent and qualified expertise, including forensic analysis, trauma evaluation, and cultural assessment. Strengthening these structural frameworks ensures that capital defence proceedings are not reliant on ad-hoc arrangements but are instead supported by a robust, well-integrated network of impartial, competent professionals. By embedding expert collaboration into legal defence strategies, lawyers contribute to a fairer, more credible adjudication process in capital cases. 16. Lawyers must actively engage with civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders to build a resilient and comprehensive ecosystem that enhances the protection of individuals facing the death penalty. March 2025 10