The Public Defender Society of Nepal (PDS-Nepal) is a Nepali nonprofit non-governmental organization with a primary mission to ensure fair and effective access to justice, to develop a public defender system in Nepal, and to work to develop the efficiency and sustainability of a Nepal public defender system. PDS-Nepal was spun off from ILF-Nepal, a project of The International Legal Foundation, USA, on April 1, 2017.

PDS-Nepal upholds the human right to a fair trial and life and liberty, by defending poor, marginalized and vulnerable persons accused of criminal offenses, regardless of age, gender and ethnicity. It works to create lasting change in the criminal justice system of Nepal by intensively training and mentoring Nepali defense lawyers to become courageous, proactive advocates for their clients’ rights, while simultaneously working to educate justice sector stakeholders, reform the legal system, and strengthen the rights of the accused, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that every person suspected or accused of a crime in Nepal has access to effective legal representation. Its primary mission is to provide meaningful and effective criminal defense services to the poor and marginalized accused persons through seven offices in Kathmandu, Janakpur, Birgunj, Hetauda, Bhairahawa, Nepulgunj and  Mahendrangar which are strategically located throughout Nepal to maximize cost-effectiveness as well as geographic reach. Recently working only in two places- Kathmandu and Janakpur

It also works with government, civil society, and justice sector actors to promote change on a broader scale through training and capacity-building. By working collaboratively with others to implement groundbreaking projects and develop more sophisticated understandings of the right to legal aid, PDS-Nepal is creating impacts which multiply throughout the justice system.