Mission Statement

To foster, maintain, and encourage the integrity, independence, and expertise of the defense lawyer in criminal cases; to achieve justice and dignity for defense lawyers, defendants, and the criminal justice system itself; to protect and insure by rule of law those individual rights guaranteed by the Utah and United States Constitutions, to encourage cooperation among lawyers engaged in the furtherance of such objectives through educational programs and other assistance, and through such cooperation, education, and assistance, to promote justice and the common good; to promote study and research in the criminal justice systems and the related disciplines; to disseminate by lectures, seminars, and publications, the advancement of knowledge of the law as it relates and is ancillary to the field of criminal practice; to promote the proper administration of criminal justice; to foster periodic educational meetings of defense lawyers and to provide a forum for material exchange of information regarding the administration of criminal justice and thereby concern itself with the protection of individual rights and the improvement of criminal law, its practice and procedures; and to draft and recommend legislation related to the criminal law and criminal justice.