Abbreviation AIDWYC Type Legal Association Headquarters Toronto, Ontario | Formation 1993 Legal status Active | |
Purpose Advocate, Educator and Network | ||
The Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC) is a Canadian, non-profit legal organization with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. AIDWYC is committed to identifying, advocating for, and exonerating individuals who have been convicted of a serious crime which they did not commit and to preventing future wrongful convictions through education and justice system reform. AIDWYC was founded in 1993 by a group of volunteers who organized the Justice for Guy Paul Morin Committee. Applications to AIDWYC can be made by the convicted person or another interested party and/or through the recommendation of a lawyer.
Contents
For many years AIDWYC was headed by Rubin "Hurricane" Carter who had himself been wrongly convicted in the United States.
Work
AIDWYC’s work has led to the successful exoneration of 20 innocent individuals. In addition, AIDWYC has been invited to provide expertise to several public inquiries related to cases or causes of wrongful convictions in Canada. Finally, AIDWYC offers accredited Continuing Professional Development (CPD) educational seminars for Canadian lawyers in an effort to prevent future wrongful convictions. AIDWYC is also working to increase the number of educational opportunities for the public, members of police services and the judiciary on issues related to the prevention of wrongful convictions.
Funding
AIDWYC is funded largely through the AIDWYC Foundation. The Foundation was established and incorporated in July 2010 and operates as the main fundraising organization for AIDWYC. AIDWYC also receives support from the Law Foundation of Ontario.
The Innocence Network
AIDWYC is a member of the Innocence Network, a collective of organizations dedicated to providing pro bono legal and investigative services to individuals who have been wrongly convicted and to preventing wrongful convictions. The Network is composed of innocence organizations across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Ireland.