Nicholas Burgess

nicholas.burgess@glasgow.ac.uk

n.burgess.1@research.gla.ac.uk

Research title: Tracking the synergy between criminal law theory and UK drug laws from the 19th to the 21st centuries

Research Summary

Biography

Nicholas began his PhD in Law at the University of Glasgow in October 2021. He previously graduated from the University of Aberdeen with an LLB (Hons) (First) in 2016 and was awarded an LLM by Research (Distinction, no corrections) from the University of Glasgow in 2021. He worked at the Scottish Law Commission for a year on the Homicide and Damages for Personal Injury projects prior to commencing his PhD.

 

Research Interests

My principal interest is criminal law, including its theory, history, and relationship with public health. Most of my research to date has concerned the criminal law's approach to recreational drugs, and I am a member of the Drugs Research Network Scotland. I have also been involved in projects examining sentencing in sexual offences cases; homicide patterns in Scotland; media representations of women who kill; fatal accident inquiries; international criminal jurisdiction; criminal responsibility; and the Scots law of fraud.

My current PhD research examines the development of UK recreational drug laws from the 19th century to the present day, and the degree to which drug laws have aligned with contemporary understandings of legitimate criminalisation.

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2021 | 2017
Number of items: 6.

2024

McPherson, Rachel, Burgess, Nicholas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-376X and Gormley, Jay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2883-503X (2024) The sentencing of offences involving stalking in Scotland. Literature review. Documentation. Scottish Sentencing Council, Edinburgh.

2023

van Amsterdam, Jan, Burgess, Nicholas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-376X and van den Brink, Wim (2023) Legal approaches to new psychoactive substances: first empirical findings. European Addiction Research, 29(5), pp. 363-372. (doi: 10.1159/000531503) (PMID:37557091)

2021

Paton, Lady, McGlashan, Graham and Burgess, Nicholas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-376X (2021) Murder in mind. Journal of the Law Society of Scotland, 66(7), pp. 22-23.

McPherson, Rachel, Burgess, Nick ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-376X, Gormely, Jay and Tata, Cyrus (2021) Sexual offences involving rape literature review. Documentation. Scottish Sentencing Council, Edinburgh.

McPherson, Rachel, Gormely, Jay, Burgess, Nicholas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-376X and Tata, Cyrus (2021) Sexual offences involving sexual assault literature review. Documentation. Scottish Sentencing Council, Edinburgh.

2017

Burgess, Nicholas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-376X (2017) The lost symbol: a semiotic analysis of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. Aberdeen Student Law Review, 7, pp. 109-120.

This list was generated on Tue Jun 24 21:55:25 2025 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Research Reports or Papers
Number of items: 6.

Articles

van Amsterdam, Jan, Burgess, Nicholas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-376X and van den Brink, Wim (2023) Legal approaches to new psychoactive substances: first empirical findings. European Addiction Research, 29(5), pp. 363-372. (doi: 10.1159/000531503) (PMID:37557091)

Paton, Lady, McGlashan, Graham and Burgess, Nicholas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-376X (2021) Murder in mind. Journal of the Law Society of Scotland, 66(7), pp. 22-23.

Burgess, Nicholas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-376X (2017) The lost symbol: a semiotic analysis of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. Aberdeen Student Law Review, 7, pp. 109-120.

Research Reports or Papers

McPherson, Rachel, Burgess, Nicholas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-376X and Gormley, Jay ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2883-503X (2024) The sentencing of offences involving stalking in Scotland. Literature review. Documentation. Scottish Sentencing Council, Edinburgh.

McPherson, Rachel, Burgess, Nick ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-376X, Gormely, Jay and Tata, Cyrus (2021) Sexual offences involving rape literature review. Documentation. Scottish Sentencing Council, Edinburgh.

McPherson, Rachel, Gormely, Jay, Burgess, Nicholas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-376X and Tata, Cyrus (2021) Sexual offences involving sexual assault literature review. Documentation. Scottish Sentencing Council, Edinburgh.

This list was generated on Tue Jun 24 21:55:25 2025 BST.

Supervisors

Grants

University of Glasgow CoSS PhD Scholarship, 2021-2024

Teaching

Graduate Teaching Assistant for:

  • LAW1003 Criminal Law and Evidence (LLB, Level 1)
  • LAW1020 Introduction to Legal Study (LLB, Level 1)
  • LAW2052 Foundations of Evidence (Common Law LLB, Level 2)

 

Additional Information

Link to staff profile: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/law/staff/nicholasburgess/