Despite constitutional safeguards and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), many states fail to enforce detention policies that meet human rights standards. One of these jurisdictions is Nigeria, where detainees are held in pre-trial detention for excessive periods in inhumane conditions, and often subjected to physical and psychological torture. During this panel, we will hear from Nigerian human rights defenders who will discuss their work to systematically and institutionally reform Nigeria’s approach to pre-trial detention. We will also hear about the UK and Australian experiences and impacts on their jurisdictions.