Justice in Shackles: The Global Persecution of Judges and Lawyers

In this policy brief published by Freedom House, Amy Slipowitz, who leads The Fred Hiatt Program to Free Political Prisoners, writes on autocrats’ persecution of legal and judicial professionals around the world. Citing Freedom House data between 2014 and 2024, Slipowitz points to at least 78 countries (varying from dictatorships to democracies), where judges, prosecutors, and lawyers have experienced retaliation in the form of detention, prosecution, and imprisonment. What gives rise to such large-scale repression? Slipowitz outlines two political contexts: 1) Persecution to protect the status-quo (Iran cracking down on the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom movement; Myanmar responding to the pro-democracy movement after the 2021 coup) and 2) Persecution to strengthen a new regime (early years of Xi Jinping in power in China and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in power in Türkiye). Slipowitz lists recommendations, urging for action against repression that targets legal professionals.