insufficient funding to pay for relevant expertise. With most clients unable to pay for good quality representation poorly rewarded legal aid lawyers are the norm in most countries. Resources are unlikely to be allocated to this unpopular area of law unless policy makers recognise the need for lawyers to be able to provide a defence that goes, in the words of the expanded UN Safeguards (1989), “above and beyond” their practice in ordinary criminal cases.4 Yet, with our lens focussed on the role of the lawyer, interviews also revealed a troubling complacency among many defence lawyers and a lack of aspiration to raise professional standards. Our research suggests that increasing the effectiveness of defence lawyers in capital cases will require raising awareness among lawyers, the judiciary and the legal system more widely of the significance of the death penalty as an irreversible punishment. The experiences and views of lawyers in capital cases is an understudied topic. Such research sheds light on how the law works in practice: the gaps in the law and the shortcomings in institutions, including the legal profession. As the American Bar Association (ABA) experience illustrates, any attempt to raise performance standards in death penalty cases will need to be undertaken in consultation with lawyers themselves5. Approach To undertake this study, The Rights Practice chose to work with NGOs and research institutes that engage in law and policy advocacy in our seven target countries – China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Taiwan. We wanted the research process to encourage stakeholder engagement, particularly with lawyers, and for our partners to be able to use the findings for their own in-country advocacy. At a regional level, our intention is to draw attention to patterns and common issues which may benefit from lesson sharing. We had no intention to grade countries against each other; each report indicates some positive law or practice as well as areas of concern. Our research approach was influenced by a comprehensive study in Europe into effective defence in criminal cases and a methodology centred on international human rights obligations.6 We were also inspired by the work of the ABA to raise performance standards among American capital defence lawyers. A number of US studies suggest that more effective defence lawyering helps to reduce the number of executions.7 The Rights Practice held online consultations with partner organisations in Asia to reach a consensus on the value of undertaking this study and to agree a common research and report structure for the national studies to allow comparisons between countries. Although not all of the focus countries are state parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) research partners 4 Additions to UN Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty as Agreed by the Economic and Social Council Resolution 1989/64. https://www.unodc.org/documents/commissions/CCPCJ/Crime_Resolutions/1980-1989/1989/ECOSOC/Resolution_198964.pdf 5 The Rights Practice. “ABA Guidelines for lawyers taking death penalty cases”. June 2021. https://www.rightspractice.org/Event/american-bar-association-aba-2003-guidelines-for-lawyers-taking-death-penalty-cases 6 Cape, Ed; Namoradze, Zara; Smith, Roger; and Spronken, Taru. Effective Criminal Defence in Europe. Intersentia. 2010. 7 See for example, Brandon L. Garrett. End of Its Rope. How Killing the Death Penalty Can Revive Criminal Justice”. Harvard University Press. 25 September 2017. 3