Professor Fiona Leverick
- Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice (School of Law)
telephone:
6091
email:
Fiona.Leverick@glasgow.ac.uk
Room 406, Stair Building, 5-10 The Square, Glasgow G12 8QQ
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5245-9874Biography
Fiona Leverick has been the Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice at the University of Glasgow since 2013. She joined the Law School in 2007 as a senior lecturer, having previously worked at the University of Aberdeen.
Fiona Leverick’s research interests lie in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, criminal evidence and criminal justice. She has undertaken a major study of mock jury decision making for the Scottish Government (with Ipsos MORI Scotland, James Chalmers and Vanessa Munro), which reported in October 2019. Other recent research projects include Resorting to Crime: The Practice of Criminalisation (a project investigating patterns of criminal offence creation from the 1950s to the present day) and Post-Corroboration Safeguards (a project exploring the causes of wrongful conviction and the safeguards that might be necessary to introduce in Scots law following the abolition of the requirement for corroboration in criminal cases).
Fiona Leverick has authored three books on criminal law: The fourth edition of Gerald Gordon’s The Criminal Law of Scotland (with James Chalmers, SULI/W. Green, 2017); Killing in Self-Defence (Oxford University Press, 2006); and Criminal Defences and Pleas in Bar of Trial (with James Chalmers, SULI/W. Green, 2006). She is happy to supervise research students in any aspect of criminal law, criminal evidence, criminal justice or criminal procedure.
More information about Fiona Leverick and her ongoing and completed research projects can be found on the Glasgow criminal law and criminal justice web pages.
Research interests
I am interested in all aspects of criminal law, criminal justice, criminal evidence and criminal procedure, but especially interested in jury decision making, the criminal justice system's response to sexual offences and the prevention of and responses to wrongful conviction. Further details about my past and ongoing research projects in these areas can be found on the Glasgow criminal law and criminal justice web pages.
I would be happy to supervise research students in any of these areas. Please do get in touch if you wish to discuss a proposal with me.
Publications
Selected publications
Chalmers, J. , Leverick, F. and Munro, V. E. (2021) The provenance of what is proven: exploring (mock) jury deliberation in Scottish rape trials. Journal of Law and Society, 48(2), pp. 226-249. (doi: 10.1111/jols.12287)
Chalmers, J. , Leverick, F. and Munro, V. E. (2021) A modern history of the not proven verdict. Edinburgh Law Review, 25(2), pp. 151-172. (doi: 10.3366/elr.2021.0692)
Chalmers, J. , Leverick, F. , Munro, V.E., Murray, L. and Ormston, R. (2020) Three distinctive features, but what is the difference? Key findings from the Scottish Jury Project. Criminal Law Review, 2020(11), pp. 1012-1033.
Leverick, F. (2020) What do we know about rape myths and juror decision making? International Journal of Evidence and Proof, 24(3), pp. 255-279. (doi: 10.1177/1365712720923157)
Ormston, R., Chalmers, J. , Leverick, F. , Munro, V. and Murray, L. (2019) Scottish Jury Research: Findings from a Large Scale Mock Jury Study. Other. Scottish Government, Edinburgh.
Chalmers, J. and Leverick, F. (2018) Criminal law in the shadows: creating offences in delegated legislation. Legal Studies, 38(2), pp. 221-241. (doi: 10.1017/lst.2017.18)
Chalmers, J. and Leverick, F. (2018) Methods of Conveying Information to Jurors: An Evidence Review. Other. Scottish Government, Edinburgh.
All publications
Grants
Professor Leverick has been awarded the following grants:
2019
£3,000 from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education to hold the 12th annual Sir Gerald Gordon Seminar in Criminal Law (with James Chalmers, Lindsay Farmer and Micheal O'Floinn).
2018
£2,483.69 from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education to hold the 11th annual Sir Gerald Gordon Seminar in Criminal Law (with James Chalmers and Lindsay Farmer).
2017
£496,970 from the Scottish Government for a study of mock jury decision making (led by Ipsos Mori, with James Chalmers and Vanessa Munro of the University of Warwick).
£29,199 from the Scottish Government to undertake research into hate crime legislation (with James Chalmers).
£3,500.56 from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education to hold the tenth annual Sir Gerald Gordon Seminar in Criminal Law (with James Chalmers and Lindsay Farmer).
2016
£2,088.13 from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education to hold the ninth annual Sir Gerald Gordon Seminar in Criminal Law (with James Chalmers and Lindsay Farmer).
2015
£2,088.08 from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education to hold the eighth annual Sir Gerald Gordon Seminar in Criminal Law (with James Chalmers and Lindsay Farmer).
2014
£41,646 from the Scottish Government to investigate safeguards against wrongful conviction following the abolition of the requirement for corroboration (with James Chalmers and others).
£2,136.87 from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education to hold the seventh annual Sir Gerald Gordon Seminar in Criminal Law (with James Chalmers and Lindsay Farmer).
2013
£1,771.86 from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education to hold the sixth annual Sir Gerald Gordon Seminar in Criminal Law (with James Chalmers and Lindsay Farmer).
2012
£6,943 from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education to hold a public lecture and the fifth annual Sir Gerald Gordon Seminar in Criminal Law (with James Chalmers and Lindsay Farmer).
2011
£1,250 from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education to hold the fourth annual Sir Gerald Gordon Seminar in Criminal Law (with James Chalmers and Lindsay Farmer).
2010
£1,000 from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education to hold the third annual Sir Gerald Gordon Seminar in Criminal Law (with James Chalmers and Lindsay Farmer).
2008
£29,990 from the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission to evaluate its first ten years of operation (June 2008 to April 2009) (with James Chalmers, Sarah Armstrong and Fergus McNeill).
£7,875 from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education to hold a public lecture, publish a Festschrift in honour of Sir Gerald Gordon and hold the inaugural and second Sir Gerald Gordon Seminar in Criminal Law (with James Chalmers and Lindsay Farmer).
2004
£94,900 from the (then) Scottish Executive to evaluate and monitor the reforms of the High Court arising from the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2004 (with James Chalmers and Peter Duff of the University of Aberdeen).
2003
£99,420 from the (then) Scottish Executive to evaluate the pilot victim statement schemes in Scotland (with James Chalmers and Peter Duff of the University of Aberdeen).
Supervision
Research Students - under supervision
Grant Barclay, Exploring the Reactive Defences of Necessity and Coercion in Scots Law
Elaine Ferguson, The Preventive Detention of High-Risk Mentally Disordered Offenders: A Critical Analysis of Scots Law
Holly McKenna, A Critical Evaluation of the Fairness of Rape Trials by Jury in Scotland and anAssessment of the Potential Need for A Selection Procedure for Jury Members
Peter Reid, A Human Rights Based Approach to Scots Criminal Justice: Corroboration and the Effective Prosecution of Sexual Offences
Kimberly Shindel, Evolution of Law and Science: An Analysis of the Potential Interplay between PrEP and the Criminalization of HIV/AIDS Exposure and Transmission'
Research Students - completed
Elaine Ferguson, 'A Sentence of Last Resort': The Order for Lifelong Restriction and the Sentencing of Dangerous Offenders in Scotland (PhD, 2021).
Corsino San Miguel, Rethinking False Beliefs About the Law: Trust and the Epistemic Conditions of Responsibility (PhD, 2019).
Javier Eduardo Velásquez Valenzuela, Doing Justice: Sentencing Practices in Scottish Sheriff Courts (PhD, 2018).
Isla Callander, Improving the Statutory Regulation of Consensual Sexual Behaviour Between Adolescents in Scotland (PhD, 2017).
Karen Nicol, Plea Bargaining in International Criminal Courts: Dealing with the Devil (LLM by Research, 2016).
Andreas Kangur, Can Rules of Criminal Evidence be Devised that would be Uniform across Jurisdictions? (PhD, 2015).
Gasem Al-Own, The UN Security Council’s Assets- Freezing against Suspected Terrorists: Legality and Procedural Fairness in the UN, EU and UK and Lessons for Jordan (PhD, 2015).
Jenny Scott, From Presence to Participation: The Role of the Juror Re-imagined (PhD, 2014).
Louis Capaldi, Legal Assistance and the Protection of Suspects in a Post-Cadder World (LLM by Research, 2014).
Christine Kelly, Criminalisation of Children in Scotland 1840-1910 (PhD, 2012).
I am happy to supervise research students in any area of criminal justice, criminal evidence or criminal procedure. Please do get in touch if you wish to discuss a proposal with me.
- Reid, Robbie
A critical evaluation of the protection of privacy and reputation rights by criminal law
Teaching
Criminal law and evidence (level 1) – an introductory course covering the basic concepts of Scottish criminal law and the rules of evidence.
Criminal justice (level 3) – an advanced course, covering all aspects of the Scottish criminal justice system from prosecution to appeals. We also examine a number of topical issues in criminal justice, such as the use of juries in criminal cases and the prosecution of sexual offences.
Wrongful conviction (level 4) - an advanced course examining the causes of wrongful conviction and how these might be addressed.
External engagement
Committee or working group involvement
- 2015 (Concluded): Member of the Academic Expert Group for the Post-Corroboration Safeguards Review
Consultations
- 2021 (Concluded): Research informed the recommendations of the Scottish Law Commission's Discussion Paper on the Mental Element in Homicide
- 2021 (Concluded): Research informed the recommendations of the Dorrian Review into Improving the Management of Sexual Offence Cases
- 2020 (Concluded): Research informed the recommendations of the New South Wales Law Commission's Report on Consent in Relation to Sexual Offences
- 2019 (Concluded): Presented findings of jury research to Dorrain Review (Improving the Management of Sexual Offence Cases), Edinburgh (with James Chalmers, Vanessa Munro)
- 2018 (Concluded): Appointed to the advisory group for the Scottish Law Commission's project on homicide
- 2017 (Concluded): Gave evidence to the Justice Committee on the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Repeal) (Scotland) Bill
- 2015 (Concluded): Submitted written evidence to the Criminal Verdicts (Scotland) Bill consultation which was quoted in the Justice Committee Stage 1 report (with James Chalmers). Quoted at length at paras 34, 42 and 55 of the Justice Committee's report.
Engagement with practitioners
- 2020 (Concluded): Engagement events with legal practitioners, advocates, third sector organisation, and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to discuss findings of the Scottish Jury Research
- 2018 (Concluded): Speaker at Scottish Law Commission seminar on reform of the law of homicide, University of Strathclyde (Presentation - art and part liability in homicide cases)
- 2018 (Concluded): Briefed Judicial Institute on research into improving jury communications, Edinburgh (joint presentation with James Chalmers)
- 2017 (Concluded): Delivered CPD session for British Transport Police/Scottish Government on 'Introduction to Scottish Criminal Law, Processes and Institutions' in Glasgow
- 2015 (Concluded): Co-delivered one day programme of CPD (with members of Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research)
Media engagement
- 2021 (Concluded): Discussed the "not proven" verdict on Radio 4 Law in Action programme
- 2019 (Concluded): Presentation of key findings of the Scottish Jury Research project to a mixed audience of legal practitioners, academics and journalists
Other
- 2020 (Concluded): Briefing to the Justice Committee on hate crime legislation
- 2017 (Concluded): Provided Academic Expert Report to inform Lord Bracadale's Hate Crime Legislation Review
- 2016 (Concluded): Research cited by the High Court in Carey v HM Advocate [2016] HCJAC 10, at para 29.
- 2014 (Concluded): Coordinated a project for Lord Bonomy's Post-Corroboration Safeguards Review examining what additional safeguards and changes to law and practice might be necessary in the light of the abolition of the corroboration requirement in Scots law
