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Paul Roberts

Professor of Criminal Jurisprudence, Faculty of Social Sciences

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  • workRoom C69 School of Law, Law and Social Sciences Building
    University Park
    Nottingham
    NG7 2RD
    UK
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Expertise Summary

Paul Roberts read law at Balliol College, Oxford (1987-1990 and 1992-93) and criminology at the Institute of Criminology and King's College, Cambridge (1990-91). Whilst based in the Faculty of Law in the University of Bristol in 1991-92, he conducted empirical research on forensic science evidence on behalf of the Runciman Royal Commission on Criminal Justice, before joining the School of Law as a Lecturer in Law in 1993. He was promoted to Reader in Criminal Justice in 2000, and to Professor of Criminal Jurisprudence in 2003. In 2011 he was also appointed Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Sydney.

Paul teaches and researches in the fields of criminal justice, evidence, criminology, criminal law and legal theory, with particular emphasis on philosophical, comparative and international perspectives. His principal publications are: Roberts and Zuckerman, Criminal Evidence (OUP, 2/e 2010), Roberts and Hunter (eds), Criminal Evidence and Human Rights (Hart, 2012), Aitken, Roberts and Jackson, Fundamentals of Probability and Statistical Evidence in Criminal Proceedings (Royal Statistical Society, 2010), Roberts and Redmayne (eds), Innovations in Evidence and Proof (Hart, 2007), Cooper and Roberts, Special Measures for Vulnerable and Intimidated Witnesses: An Analysis of Crown Prosecution Service Monitoring Data (Crown Prosecution Service, 2005), and Roberts and Willmore, The Role of Forensic Science Evidence in Criminal Proceedings (HMSO, 1993), in addition to which he has published over eighty journal articles, book chapters, essays and reviews.

Paul has been visiting professor or invited lecturer at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), the University of Warsaw, the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the University of Gottingen, the University of New South Wales (UMSW), Sydney, and the University of Natal (Pietermaritzburg), RSA. He is editorial board member of four academic journals: International Commentary on Evidence (ICE); Criminal Law & Philosophy; Law, Probability and Risk and Law and Philosophy. He was also a founding editorial board member of The International Journal of Evidence and Proof (E & P), serving as Reviews Editor (1995-2005) and General Editor (2005-9). Paul has served as a consultant to the Crown Prosecution Service and to the Law Commissions of England and Wales and Scotland. He is currently an advisor to the Forensic Regulator, and is a member of the Royal Statistical Society's Working Group on Statistics and the Law, of the Northumbria University Centre for Forensic Science and of the Board of Foreign Advisors of the Institute of Evidence Law and Forensic Science, China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL).

Research Summary

Paul teaches and researches in the fields of criminal justice, evidence, criminology and criminal law, with particular emphasis on philosophical, comparative and international perspectives.

Selected Publications

  • ROBERTS, P. and ZUCKERMAN A.A.S., 2010. Criminal evidence 2nd ed. Oxford University Press.
  • JILL HUNTER, PAUL ROBERTS, SIMON NM YOUNG and DAVID DIXON, eds., 2016. The Integrity of Criminal Process: From Theory into Practice Hart/Bloomsbury.
  • ROBERTS, P, ed., 2014. Theoretical foundations of criminal trial procedure Farnham : Ashgate.
  • ROBERTS, P, ed., 2014. Expert evidence and scientific proof in criminal trials Farnham : Ashgate.

PhD Supervision

I am interested in supervising students who want to work on the following areas:

  • evidence and proof
  • criminal procedure
  • criminal process
  • comparative criminal justice
  • criminal law/punishment theory, extending over into moral and political philosophy

Current PhD Students

  • Canham, Mary: An Analysis of the use of Secret Evidence (Closed Evidence) and its Conceptual Capability with the Right to a Fair Hearing (co-supervised with Sangeeta Shah)
  • Carver, Lucy: The ICC and the Penal Objectives of International Criminal Justice
  • Pleshkova, Olga: Human Rights in Policing
  • Purshouse, Joe: Privacy, Procedural Fairness and Human Rights: To what extent can privacy be considered a right for those subjected to the criminal justice process? (co-supervised with Professor John Jackson)

Recent PhD Students

Future Research

1. reform and development of criminal evidence and procedure; evidence & proof 2. global criminal justice; cosmopolitanism; human rights in criminal proceedings 3. comparative criminal justice (inc EU criminal law) 4. philosophical foundations of criminal justice; criminal law theory; jurisprudence

  • JILL HUNTER, PAUL ROBERTS, SIMON NM YOUNG and DAVID DIXON, eds., 2016. The Integrity of Criminal Process: From Theory into Practice Hart/Bloomsbury.
  • PAUL ROBERTS, 2016. Redmayne's Character and Criminal Jurisprudence Modern Law Review. 79(4), 706-726
  • PAUL ROBERTS and TONY WARD, 2016. Expert Evidence in Trials of Sexual Offences. In: PAMELA RADCLIFFE, GISLI GUDJONSSON, ANTHONY HEATON-ARMSTRONG and DAVID WOLCHOVER, eds., Witness Testimony in Sexual Cases: Evidential, Investigative and Scientific Perspectives Oxford University Press. 115-129
  • ROBERTS, PAUL, 2015. The Priority of Procedure and the Neglect of Evidence and Proof Facing Facts in International Criminal Law JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE. 13(3), 479-506
  • ROBERTS, PAUL, 2015. Paradigms of forensic science and legal process: a critical diagnosis PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES. 370(1674),
  • PAUL ROBERTS, 2014. Loss of Innocence in Common Law Presumptions Criminal Law and Philosophy. 8, 317-336
  • ROBERTS, P, ed., 2014. Expert evidence and scientific proof in criminal trials Farnham : Ashgate.
  • ROBERTS, P, ed., 2014. Theoretical foundations of criminal trial procedure Farnham : Ashgate.
  • PAUL ROBERTS, 2014. Criminal Law Theory and the Limits of Liberalism. In: AP SIMESTER, ANJTE DU BOIS-PEDAIN and ULFRID NEUMANN, eds., Liberal Criminal Theory: Essays for Andreas von Hirsch Hart Publishing. 327-360
  • PAUL ROBERTS, 2013. Fue el Bebé Sacudido? Preuba, Pericia y Epistemologia Juridica en el Proceso Penal Inglés. In: CARMEN VÁZQUEZ, ed., Estandares de prueba y prueba cientifica: Ensayos de epistemologia juridica Marcial Pons. 135-180
  • ROBERTS P, 2013. Renegotiating forensic cultures: between law, science and criminal justice. Studies in history and philosophy of biological and biomedical sciences. 44(1), 47-59
  • PAUL ROBERTS, 2013. Expert Evidence and Criminal Trial Procedure. In: GERBEN BRUINSMA and DAVID WEISBURD, eds., Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice Springer. 1480-1494
  • PAUL ROBERTS and WILLIAM O'BRIAN, 2013. Scientific Evidence in Criminal Prosecutions. In: GERBEN BRUINSMA and DAVID WEISBURD, eds., Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice Springer. 4701-4715
  • ROBERTS, P. and HUNTER, J.B., eds., 2012. Criminal evidence and human rights: reimagining common law procedural traditions Hart Publishing.
  • PAUL ROBERTS, 2012. Excluding Evidence as Protecting Constitutional or Human Rights?. In: JULIAN V ROBERTS and LUCIA ZEDNER, eds., Principles and Values in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice: Essays in Honour of Andrew Ashworth OUP. 171-190
  • ROBERTO PUCH-SOLIS, PAUL ROBERTS, SUSAN POPE and COLIN AITKEN, 2012. Assessing the Probative Value of DNA Evidence Royal Statistical Society.
  • PAUL ROBERTS, 2012. Oxford Jurisprudence Redux Transnational Legal Theory. 3, 180-88
  • PAUL ROBERTS, 2011. Does Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights Require Reasoned Verdicts in Criminal Trials? Human Rights Law Review. 11, 213-235
  • MIKE REDMAYNE, PAUL ROBERTS, COLIN AITKEN and GRAHAM JACKSON, 2011. Forensic Science Evidence in Question Criminal Law Review. 347-356
  • PAUL ROBERTS, 2011. Peter Tillers’ Wish List Law, Probability & Risk. 11, 13-16
  • ROBERTS, P., 2011. Groundwork for a jurisprudence of criminal procedure. In: DUFF, R.A. and GREEN, S.P., eds., Philosophical foundations of criminal law Oxford University Press.
  • SPECIALIST EDITOR ON CRIMINAL LAW, PROCEDURE AND EVIDENCE IN GREENBERG, D., ed., 2010. Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law 3rd edn. Sweet & Maxwell.
  • ROBERTS, P. and ZUCKERMAN A.A.S., 2010. Criminal evidence 2nd ed. Oxford University Press.
  • ROBERTS, P. and SAUNDERS, C., 2010. Piloting PTWI—a socio-legal window on prosecutors’ assessments of evidence and witness credibility Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. 30(1), 101-141
  • COLIN AITKEN, PAUL ROBERTS and GRAHAM JACKSON, 2010. Fundamentals of Probability and Statistical Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Practitioner Guide No.1 Royal Statistical Society.
  • ROBERTS, P., 2009. The Science of Proof: Forensic Science Evidence in English Criminal Trials. In: FRASER, J and WILLIAMS, R., eds., Handbook of Forensic Science Willan. 446-484
  • ROBERTS, P. and SAUNDERS, C., 2008. Interviewing Prosecution Witnesses: A Socio-Legal Evaluation of the Pre-Trial Witness Interview Pilot Crown Prosecution Service.
  • ROBERTS, P., 2008. Faces of justice adrift? Damaska's comparative method and the future of common law evidence. In: JACKSON, J., LANGER, M. and TILLERS, P., eds., Crime, procedure and evidence in a comparative and international context: essays in honour of Professor Mirjan Damaska Hart. 295-328
  • ROBERTS, P. and SAUNDERS, C., 2008. Introducing pre-trial witness interviews: a flexible new fixture to the Crown Prosecutor’s toolkit Criminal Law Review. 2008(11), 831-853
  • PAUL ROBERTS, 2008. Comparative Criminal Justice Goes Global Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. 28, 369-391
  • ROBERTS, P., 2007. Chapter 1: Rethinking the law of evidence: a twenty-first century agenda for teaching and research. In: ROBERTS, P. and REDMAYNE, M., eds., Innovations in evidence and proof: integrating theory, research and teaching Oxford: Hart Publishing. 19-63
  • ALLEN and ROBERTS, P., eds., 2007. Special Issue of Evidence & Proof on the Reference Class Problem
  • ROBERTS, P., 2007. Comparative Law for International Criminal Justice. In: ORUCU, E. and NELKEN, D., eds., Comparative Law - A Handbook Hart. 339-370
  • ROBERTS, P., 2007. Criminal Procedure, the Presumption of Innocence and Judicial Reasoning under the Human Rights Act. In: FENWICK, H., PHILLIPSON, G. and MASTERMAN, R., eds., Judicial Reasoning under the UK Human Rights Act Cambridge University Press. 377-423
  • ROBERTS, P., 2007. Law and Criminal Investigation. In: NEWBURN, T., WILLIAMSON, T. and WRIGHT, A., eds., Handbook of Criminal Investigation Willan. 92-145 (In Press.)
  • ROBERTS, P and REDMAYNE, M, eds., 2007. Innovations In Evidence And Proof: Integrating Theory, Research And Teaching Oxford : Hart.
  • ROBERTS, P., 2006. Theorising procedural tradition: subjects, objects and values in criminal adjudication. In: DUFF, A., FARMER, L., MARSHALL, S. and TADROS, V., eds., The trial on trial. Part 2: Judgement and calling to account. Oxford: Hart. 37-64
  • ROBERTS, P., 2006. Penal Offence in Question: Some Reference Points for Interdisciplinary Conversation. In: SIMESTER, A. and VON HIRSCH, A., eds., Incivilities: Regulating Offensive Behaviour Hart. 1-56
  • ROBERTS. P. and SIMESTER, A., 2006. Strict Liability in UK Regulation, Annex E to Richard McCrory, Regulatory Justice: Sanctioning in a post-Hampton World - Consultation Document Cabinet Office.
  • COOPER, D and ROBERTS, P., 2005. Special Measures for Vulnerable and Intimidated Witnesses: An Analysis of Crown Prosecution Service Monitoring Data London: Crown Prosecution Service.
  • ROBERTS, P., 2005. Book Review: Taylor, Wasik and Leng: Blackstone's Guide to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE AND PROOF. VOL 9(NUMB 2), 148-152
  • ROBERTS, P., 2005. Strict Liability and the Presumption of Innocence: An Expose of Functionalist Assumptions. In: ANDREW SIMESTER, ed., Appraising Strict Liability Oxford University Press, Oxford. 151-194
  • ROBERTS, P and ZUCKERMAN, A.A.S., 2004. Criminal evidence Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • ROBERTS, P., 2004. Towards the principled reception of expert evidence of witness credibility in criminal trials INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE AND PROOF. VOL 8(NUMB 4), 215-232
  • ROBERTS, P., 2004. Restoration and Retribution in International Criminal Justice: An Exploratory Analysis. In: Restorative Justice and Criminal Justice: Competing or Reconcilable Paradigms? Hart Publishing Ltd, Oxford, UK. 115-134
  • ROBERTS, P. and MCMILLAN, N., 2003. For Criminology in International Criminal Justice Journal of International Criminal Justice. VOL 1(NUMB 2), 315-338
  • ROBERTS,P., 2002. Drug-dealing and the Presumption of Innocence: The Human Rights Act (Almost) Bites The International Journal of Evidence and Proof. 6, 17-37
  • ROBERTS, P., 2002. On Method: The Ascent of Comparative Criminal Justice Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. VOL 22(PART 3), 539-562
  • ROBERTS, P., 2002. Justice for all? Two bad arguments (and several good suggestions) for resisting double jeopardy reform INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE AND PROOF. VOL 6(PART 4), 197-217
  • ROBERTS, P., 2002. Rethinking the law of evidence: a twenty-first century agenda for teaching and research. In: LEWIS, A., ed., Current Legal Problems 55. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 297-345
  • ROBERTS, P., 2002. Science, Experts and Criminal Justice. In: The Handbook of the Criminal Justice Process Oxford University Press, Oxford. 253-284
  • ROBERTS, P., 2002. Double Jeopardy Law Reform: A Criminal Justice Commentary Modern Law Review. VOL 65(PART 3), 393-424
  • ROBERTS,P., 2001. Philosophy, Feinberg, Codification and Consent: A Progress Report on English Experiences of Criminal Law Reform Buffalo Criminal Law Review. 5, 173-253
  • ROBERTS,P., 2001. Review of Richard Nobles and David Schiff, Understanding Miscarriages of Justice (OUP, 2000) Law Quarterly Review. 117, 503-512
  • ROBERTS, P., 2001. Privacy, Autonomy and Criminal Justice Rights: Philosophical Preliminaries. In: Personal Autonomy, the Private Sphere and the Criminal Law: A Comparative Study Hart Publishing Ltd, Oxford, UK. 49-78
  • ROBERTS, P., 2000. Review Article: Discourses on Law in Policing Policing and Society. VOL 10(PART 2), 207-218
  • ROBERTS, P., 2000. Lyal S. Sunga: The emerging system of international criminal law: Developments in codification and implementation; T.L.H. McCormack and G.J. Simpson (eds): The law of war crimes: National and international approaches INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE AND PROOF. VOL 4(PART 1), 73-76
  • ROBERTS,P., 2000. Review of Timothy L.H. McCormack and Gerry J. Simpson (eds), The Law of War Crimes: National and International Approaches (Kluwer, 1997) The International Journal of Evidence and Proof. 4, 73-76
  • ROBERTS, P., 2000. Acquitted Misconduct Evidence and Double Jeopardy Principles, From Sambasivam to Z Criminal Law Review. DEC, 952-970
  • ROBERTS, P., 1999. Evidence, proof and probability INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE AND PROOF. VOL 3(NUMBER 1), 68-70
  • ROBERTS,P., 1999. Review of Maxwell Barrett, Blackstone's Law of Evidence Index: Case Precedents 1900-1997 (Blackstone, 1998) The International Journal of Evidence and Proof. 3, 138-140
  • ROBERTS,P., 1999. Tyres with a 'Y': An English Perspective on Kumho Tire and its Implications for the Admissibility of Expert Evidence International Commentary on Evidence. 2 July 1999,
  • ROBERTS, P., 1999. Criminal Justice and the Limits of Privacy In: Unknown.
  • ROBERTS,P., 1998. Review of Christine van den Wyngaert (ed), International Criminal Law: A Collection of International and European Instruments (Kluwer, 1996) The International Journal of Evidence and Proof. 2, 60-68
  • ROBERTS,P., 1998. On the Preconditions and Possiblities of Criminal Law Theory South African Journal of Criminal Justice. 11, 285-324
  • ROBERTS, P., 1998. Recent Trends in English Penal Policy. In: Social Change, Social Policy and Social Work in the New Europe Ashgate Publishing Group, Aldershot & London. 97-117
  • ROBERTS, P., 1998. Criminal Justice and the Limits of Privacy In: Personal Autonomy, the Private Sphere and the Criminal Law.
  • ROBERTS, P., 1998. What can be Done About Crime? In: Reflections on Recent Trends in Western Penal Policy.
  • ROBERTS,P., 1998. Review of M. Cherif Bassiouni (ed), The Protection of Human Rights in the Administration of Criminal Justice: A Compendium of United Nations Norms and Standards (Transnational Publishers, 1994) The International Journal of Evidence and Proof. 2, 60-68
  • ROBERTS,P., 1998. Review of Yoram Dinstein and Mala Tabory (eds), War Crimes in International Law (Martinus Nijhoff, 1996) The International Journal of Evidence and Proof. 2, 60-68
  • ROBERTS, P., 1998. Expert Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: More Lessons from North America. In: REECE, H., ed., Current Legal Issues: Law and Science 1. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 175-219
  • ROBERTS,P., 1998. Review of John Dugard and Christine van den Wyngaert (eds), International Criminal Law & Procedure (Dartmouth, 1996) The International Journal of Evidence and Proof. 2, 60-68
  • ROBERTS, P., 1997. The Philosophical Foundations of Consent in the Criminal Law Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. VOL 17(NUMBER 3), 389-414
  • ROBERTS, P., 1997. The Law Commission Consultation Paper on Previous Misconduct: All the Usual Suspects: A Critical Appraisal of Law Commission Consultation Paper No. 141 Criminal Law Review. MNTH 2, 75-92
  • ROBERTS,P., 1997. Review of Frankin E. Zimring and Gordon Hawkins, Incapacitation: Penal Confinement and the Restraint of Crime (OUP, 1995) Criminal Law Review. 373-376
  • ROBERTS,P., 1997. Evidence of Previous Misconduct: Paul Roberts Replies Criminal Law Review. 369-372
  • ROBERTS,P., 1997. Consent to Injury: How Far Can You Go? Law Quarterly Review. 113, 27-35
  • ROBERTS, P., 1996. Will you stand up in court? On the admissibility of psychiatric and psychological evidence Journal of Forensic Psychiatry. VOL 7(NUMBER 1), 63-78
  • ROBERTS, P., 1996. The admissibility of expert evidence: Lessons from America Expert Evidence. VOL 4(NUMBER 3), 93-100
  • ROBERTS, P., 1996. From Deviance to Censure: A 'New' Criminology for the Nineties Modern Law Review. VOL 59(NUMBER 1), 125-144
  • ROBERTS,P., 1996. Review of John Jackson and Sean Doran, Judge Without Jury (OUP, 1995) Law Quarterly Review. 112, 513-518
  • ROBERTS, P., 1996. Consent and Criminal Liability: A Framework for Discussion In: Institute of Contemporary Arts.
  • ROBERTS,P., 1996. Review of Herschel Prins, Offenders, Deviants or Patients? (Routledge, 1995) Criminal Law Review. 362-364
  • ROBERTS, P., 1996. Jill Hunter and Kathryn Cronin, Evidence, Advocacy and Ethical Practice: a Criminal Trial Commentary INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE AND PROOF. VOL 1(NUMBER 1), 92-97
  • ROBERTS, P., 1996. What Price a Free Market in Forensic Science Services? The Organization and Regulation of Science in the Criminal Process British Journal of Criminology. VOL 36(NUMBER 1), 37-60
  • ROBERTS, P., 1995. Consent and the Criminal Law: Philosophical Foundations, in: Law Commission Consultation Paper No 139, Consent in the Criminal Law
  • ROBERTS,P., 1995. Review of A.T.H. Smith, Property Offences (Sweet and Maxwell, 1994) Law Quarterly Review. 111, 704-708
  • ROBERTS, P., 1995. Taking the Burden of Proof Seriously Criminal Law Review. ISSUE 10, 783
  • ROBERTS,P., 1995. Review of Michael McConville et al, Standing Accused: The Organisation and Practices of Criminal Defence Laywers in Britain (OUP 1994) Law Quarterly Review. 111, 167-172
  • ROBERTS,P., 1994. Review of Michael Moore, Act and Crime: The Philosophy of Action and its Implications for Criminal Law (OUP, 1993) Criminal Law Review. 393-394
  • ROBERTS,P., 1994. Review of Andrew L-T Choo, Abuse of Process and Judicial Stays of Criminal Proceedings (OUP, 1993) Law Quarterly Review. 110, 662-666
  • ROBERTS, P., 1994. Forensic Science Evidence After Runciman Criminal Law Review. 780
  • ROBERTS, P., 1994. Science in the Criminal Process Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. VOL 14(NUMBER 4), 469
  • ROBERTS,P., 1994. Review of Andrew Von Hirsch, Censure and Sanctions (OUP, 1993) Criminal Law Review.
  • ROBERTS,P., 1994. Obtaining Defence Experts in Criminal Proceedings: Pragmatism and the Impossible Dream 42, 1-4
  • ROBERTS,P., 1994. Remedies for Non-Disclosure After Ward Archbold News. 4 November, 5-8
  • ROBERTS, PAUL, LAWYER and WILLMORE, C. J. (CHRIS J), 1993. The role of forensic science evidence in criminal proceedings: Royal Commission on Criminal Justice Research Study No 11 London : HMSO, 1993.
  • ROBERTS,P., 1993. Social Control and the Censures of Sex Crime, Law and Social Change. 19, 171-186
  • ROBERTS,P., 1993. Expert Systems Solicitors' Journal. 3 December, 39-41
  • ROBERTS,P., 1993. Review of Andrei Marmor, Interpretation and Legal Theory (OUP, 1992) Law Quarterly Review. 109, 499-503
  • ROBERTS,P., 1992. Review of David Carson, Professionals and the Courts: A Handbook for Expert Witnesses (Venture Press, 1990) Modern Law Review. 55, 754-757
  • ROBERTS,P., 1992. Review of Tristram Hodgkinson, Expert Evidence: Law and Practice (Sweet and Maxwell, 1990) Modern Law Review. 55, 754-757
  • ROBERTS,P., 1992. Review of Stephen Guest, Ronald Dworkin (Edinburgh UP, 1992) Modern Law Review. 55, 881-885

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