Following the success of last year’s Capital Defense Fellowship held at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) has launched a 3-credit elective course titled “Legal Defense and Investigative Techniques.”

Developed in collaboration with the Cornell University Makwanyane Institute, the course builds on the fellowship’s foundations to institutionalise specialised, practice-based learning in capital representation within Pakistan’s legal education system.The course introduces students to key components of capital defense, including investigation, mitigation, mental health evaluation, international advocacy and post-conviction representation.

Sessions are led by national and international experts, including Dr. Mowadat H. Rana, Professor of Psychiatry and amicus curiae before the Supreme Court in the landmark Safia Bano case, together with JPP’s legal faculty, who combine field experience with academic expertise in capital defence.

By embedding this training within NUST’s law curriculum, JPP continues to build sustained national capacity in capital defense, equipping the next generation of lawyers to advance rights-based justice reform and uphold the fundamental rights of the most vulnerable.