The Criminal Law Research Group brings together researchers from across the University of Oxford with a shared interest in criminal law and criminal justice. Our community spans every stage of academic life, from postgraduate research students at the beginning of their academic journey to established academics whose work has shaped the field.

This website showcases the breadth and diversity of criminal law research taking place across Oxford. It highlights the expertise, publications, projects, events, and achievements of our members, while fostering collaboration within the University and strengthening connections with the wider academic and professional community.

The Criminal Law Research Group, chaired by Professor Jonathan Herring, brings together Oxford scholars whose research spans the field of criminal law. The Group provides a forum for collaboration, discussion, and the advancement of criminal law scholarship at the University of Oxford.  Members also contribute to the Faculty of Law's teaching, from the compulsory first-year undergraduate ‘Criminal Law’ course and the optional ‘Advanced Criminal Law’ course at Final Honour School (FHS) level to ‘Advanced and Comparative Criminal Law’ at postgraduate level (BCL and MJur).

The Criminal Law Research Group is closely linked to the Criminal Law Discussion Group, which hosts a varied programme of academic presentations throughout the year. The Discussion Group welcomes members of the Oxford research community, as well as scholars from other institutions across the UK and internationally.

Through workshops, seminars (including the collaborative Oxford, Cambridge, and University College London initiative, ‘Assize Seminars: Cutting-Edge Criminal Law’), research projects, and public events, members engage with contemporary issues in criminal law. Their work contributes to academic debate, informs policy development, and supports the education and training of the next generation of criminal law scholars and practitioners.