Log in
Professor Cryer's research on International Criminal Law has changed how the human rights of refugees are protected under International Law. First, it has significantly influenced Canadian jurisprudence in this field. Prior to the July 2013 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Ezkola v Canada, refugee claimants had been excluded from Canada on the basis of their association with others, rather than because they were individually responsible for the commission of international crimes. The Supreme Court of Canada relied directly on Cryer's research to develop a new test to determine eligibility for refugee status. Secondly, Cryer's research has helped to shape the revised 2003 UNHCR guidelines on the application of exclusion clauses, which will be published in 2014. Beneficiaries of the research include the UNHCR and all States which implement the UNHCR's guidelines on refugee status, and individuals who would previously have been denied refugee status.
Professor Alldridge's research rethinking the theoretical underpinnings of the law of bribery has had a direct influence on the recent reforms of the British law of bribery. With the coming into force of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the OECD's Paris Convention on the Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in 1999, the UK government was required to reform the law of bribery. A Bill was drawn up in 2003, based on a report from the Law Commission, which included a defence of consent (this allowed defendant employers to argue that they could not be prosecuted for bribing foreign customers, where the bribery had been effected by one of their employees and the defendant employer had consented to this). The Commission saw bribery not as anti-competitive behavior, but a crime against loyalty, a conception that turned upon the existence of prior duties (to act impartially, in good faith and to be in a position of trust). Through his membership of the Law Commission Bribery Advisory Group, Alldridge was able to show in 2008 that some of these duties could only be found in contracts. As such, they could also be altered by contract, and where this occurred, it would create a defence of the consent of the principal. As a result of Alldridge's research and related membership of the Advisory group, the 2009 Bill was amended, and the Act passed in 2010 did not allow such a defence. The UK now has a reformed law of bribery, which complies with the OECD convention and has been put on rational foundations.
This research has made a sustained and continuing impact on the development and application of the substantive criminal law, including mens rea and general defences, and especially in the areas of complicity and homicide, in terms of
i) development of the law by the appellate courts;
ii) application of the law by practitioners; and
iii) government policy as to the reform of the law of murder and complicity.
Professor Adrian Keane's research relates to the law of criminal evidence, that body of law which regulates the means by which facts can be proved in criminal trials. His publications on the subject have effected change and benefited the awareness, capacity, performance and understanding of the subject on the part of:
(i) the judiciary in the UK and internationally, in reaching decisions at both first instance and at appellate level; and in giving directions to juries on evidential issues that are as clear and consistent as possible
(ii) legal practitioners
(iii) law academics and students (an impact that extends significantly beyond the submitting higher education institution)
(iv) legislators in the People's Republic of China.
The most significant impact stems from participation in a project in Beijing that led directly to a revised Criminal Procedure Law that has improved the quality of the administration of Chinese criminal justice. Specifically, it has rendered criminal trials fairer to the accused and reduced the potential for miscarriages of justice, especially in relation to offences carrying the death penalty.
Much has been written about mental condition defences such as insanity and diminished responsibility together with the cognate doctrine of unfitness to plead. However, most of this work has been doctrinal rather than empirical. This case study has developed a sustained and continuing understanding of how certain mental condition defences operate in practice, primarily through empirical analysis. R.D. Mackay's empirical studies of both the insanity defence and unfitness to plead and his studies of diminished responsibility, provocation and infanticide have been used by and have influenced law reform bodies, legislators, policy development and legal analysis.
Scams and underhand sales practices are estimated to cost consumers in the UK over £3 billion each year. Collins's research has identified gaps in the remedies available to consumers who are victims of unfair commercial practices or scams. Consumer Focus (an independent but government-funded agency) relied heavily on his research in their 2009 report, which informed the Law Commission's 2011 proposals for reform of the law, and which in 2013 led Parliament to legislate to close the remedial gaps.
In 2010 the Ministry of Justice formally accepted recommendations by the Law Commission to introduce a new non-statutory rule of disclosure for trustee exemption clauses in England and Wales. Newcastle research had a direct impact upon the development of the law on trustee exemption clauses. In 2002 Dunn successfully tendered to undertake research on trustee exemption clauses in England and Wales on behalf of the Law Commission. Dunn's research was published by the Law Commission as a separate and distinct chapter of its consultation paper on trustee exemption clauses. The research (alongside consultation responses) influenced the Law Commission's recommendation that a non-statutory rule of disclosure be introduced into the law of England and Wales. This recommendation was accepted by the Government in 2010 and has been implemented by the trust industry.
Professor Geoff Gilbert's research on exclusion in international refugee law has influenced policies of international organisations and courts around the world. His research on extradition prompted the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to invite Gilbert to write the Global Consultation on exclusion, adopted in 2001 at the 50th Anniversary meeting for the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. This Consultation directly influenced UNHCR's 2003 Guidelines on Exclusion that have been cited worldwide in hundreds of cases during the impact period. Canadian and German appellate courts have also favourably cited Gilbert's work directly.
Two particular examples of impact on legislative change and legal practice are described: impact on the parliamentary process and impact on mental health practice and procedure. The first example describes contribution to debate during the parliamentary process for the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill and contribution to the decision to reject rushed emergency legislation. The research team's response to the consultation by the Justice 2 Committee was widely referred to by organisational representatives and individuals in the debates. The second example focuses on the impact from a key text, which has been used by both sides and judges in Sheriff Court appeals. The impact here is in its verifiable effect on the practice of law in courts and in the making of legal determinations.
This impact case study provides details of research carried out by Dr David Whyte on the regulation of deaths and injuries caused by working. This research led directly to the introduction of new legislation in the Scottish Parliament in 2010. The research has also had a measurable influence upon policy debates in the Health and Safety Commission/Board and the UK Parliament and has provided the foundation for trade union policy on health and safety regulation. This case study draws upon inter-disciplinary knowledge in the disciplines of law, criminology, economics and business and management studies to impact upon policy development in government, the criminal justice system and the trade union sector.