1 August 2022

Queensland was the first place in both Australia and the British Commonwealth to abolish the death penalty on 31 July 1922.

At an all-day event tomorrow Monday 1 August, we will be commemorating 100 years since Queensland’s historic abolition of the death penalty at the Premier’s Hall, Parliament House, Brisbane.

This all-day event will run from 11am and will include a keynote address from Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG, as well a series of panel discussions throughout the day.

At the conclusion of the discussions, an updated The Penalty is Death by Barry Jones AC will be launched by journalist and author Kerry O’Brien. This collection of writings in opposition of the death penalty includes works by Dickens, Camus, and Orwell, as well as modern contributions by Michael Kirby, Barry Jones and Julian McMahon AC SC.

In a special auction, a portrait of Barry Jones by photographer Bill Henson will also be auctioned, with proceeds going to the Capital Punishment Justice Project (CPJP).

Ticket sales have now closed, but you can find Barry’s book at Avid Reader.

7 October 2021

In support of World Day Against the Death Penalty on 10 October 2021, Clifford Chance and the Capital Punishment Justice Project are delighted to invite you to join a virtual fireside conversation with guest speaker Sunny Jacobs.

Sunny was wrongfully tried, convicted and sentenced to death in Florida, USA in 1976. She spent five years in solitary confinement before her death sentence was overturned. While sentenced to death, her practice of yoga and meditation sustained her through her ordeal.

After her sentence was changed to Life, she spent another 12 years in prison, during which time she lost her parents, her children went into foster care and her husband, Jesse, who was also wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death, was executed - two years before evidence of his innocence was made known.

With the help of lawyers who worked for many years without pay and friends who assisted them in the research, Sunny had her conviction overturned in 1992 and achieved her liberty. She has since made her life mission to help others who suffered from the injustice of wrongful conviction.

The conversation will be moderated by the esteemed human rights advocate Stephen Keim SC, Chair of the Capital Punishment Justice Project.

9 October 2020

To access a recording of this event, please click here: https://youtu.be/TDHUvJAKLHw

14 September 2023

Luke Cook and his wife were sentenced to death in Thailand over an alleged failed bid to smuggle have a tonne of crystal meth through the country to Australia. After four years in multiple prisons, they were exonerated of the charge on appeal in the Supreme Court of Thailand and returned to Brisbane.