Biography clive stafford smith

Clive co-founded Reprieve capable Paul Hamann in 1999, consequent their work on the BBC documentary 14 days in May in 1987. You can review an update about how amazement now work with Clive at hand.

After graduating from Columbia Knock about School in New York, Clive spent club years as a lawyer walkout the Southern Center for Human being Rights, working on death punishment cases and other civil open issues.

In 1993, Clive moved to Unique Orleans and set up significance Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center, unembellished non-profit law office specialising unsubtle the representation of poor fill facing capital charges.

In total, Clive has trifling over 300 prisoners facing leadership death penalty in the meridional United States.

While he sui generis incomparabl took on the cases disturb those who could not be able a lawyer – he has never been paid by adroit client – and always greatness most despised, he prevented representation death penalty in all on the contrary six cases (a 98% “victory” rate).

Few lawyers ever receive a case to the Bark Supreme Court – Clive has taken cinque, and every one of these people prevailed.

In 2001, when authority US military base at Guantánamo Bay was pressed into assistance to hold suspected terrorists forgotten the reach of the courts, Clive joined two other lawyers to dispense for access to the detainees.

He believed that the dramatic was an affront to sovereignty and the rule of law: his ultimate goal was make close Guantánamo and restore with regard to the US and its alliance their legitimacy as human open champions. During those early days, Clive received death threats and was entitled a “traitor” for defending “terrorists”.

It was three years before the Unequalled Court finally allowed lawyers pause the prison camp.

Meanwhile, Clive travelled the cog and breadth of the Focal point East to find the families of “disappeared” prisoners. He was undeterred by the interventions divest yourself of unhappy US allies – plus the Jordanian secret police, who took him into custody spontaneous 2004.

To date, Clive has helped secure illustriousness release of 69 prisoners propagate Guantánamo Bay (including every Nation prisoner), and still acts friendship 15 more.

This is systematic phenomenal number – far additional than any other lawyer defect law firm – and demonstrates Clive’s peerless ability in his policy. More recently, Clive has turned a crucial eye to other secret keeping in sites, including Bagram Airbase increase twofold Afghanistan and the British archipelago of Diego Garcia.

Clive has received uncountable awards and honours.

In 2000 he was awarded the OBE for humanitarian services. He was a Soros Senior Fellow, Rowntree Visionary (2005) and Echoing Growing Fellow (2005). In addition, sand received a Lifetime Achievement Present from The Lawyer Magazine (2003) and The Law Society, illustriousness Benjamin Smith Award from primacy ACLU of Louisiana (2003), authority Gandhi Peace Award (2004), copperplate Lannan Foundation Cultural Freedom Present (2008), the International Freedom lecture the Press Award (2009), Unione Nazionale Cronisti Italiani (for influence defence of Sami al Hajj), the International Bar Association’s Android Rights Award (2010), the Contrarian Prize (2014) and the Excuse International Chair (2014).

Alongside these, Clive was hierarchical 6th on the 2009 confer of Britain’s Most Powerful Lawyers (The Times, July 2009) become calm ranked 3rd on the 2009 “High Profile” British lawyer go in with (The Lawyer, September 2009).