The City Law School hosts International Death Penalty Training programme

Across two weekends in October and November 2025, The City Law School, City St George’s, University of London, hosted the bi-annual Death Penalty Training programme delivered by UK legal charity, Amicus.

For over 30 years Amicus has provided specialist support to capital defence lawyers in the United States, working to ensure fair trials and access to justice for individuals facing the death penalty.

Hosted from Friday 24 – Sunday 26 October and again on Saturday 8 – Sunday 9 November 2025, with teaching space kindly provided by Bayes Business School, the programme trained over 100 law students and practitioners to become Amicus volunteers and undertake capital defence casework in the United States.

Forty-seven people were executed in the United States during 2025, marking the highest number in 16 years and underlining the continued importance of this crucial pro bono legal support.

The programme’s speakers included Mississippi death row exoneree Sabrina Butler-Smith; Professor Jim Marcus of the University of Texas and a leading figure in the US capital defence community; and Associate Professor Nikki Walsh who directs The City Law School's Amicus Clinic, which is the only law clinic in the UK for students undertaking US death penalty casework as part of their Bar training.

Reflecting on the programme, Amicus's Director, Margot Ravenscroft said:

We’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to City St. George's for hosting us, and to Richard Ashcroft [Executive Dean, The City Law School] and Nikki Walsh for making it all possible. A huge thank you to our enthusiastic attendees, who dedicated their weekends to engage with Amicus and learn more about the U.S. death penalty.