Florence Lee

Please tell us about your academic journey and how you came to study at Oxford.

I obtained my undergraduate degree from the University of Cambridge. I wanted to pursue further studies in the UK because of my love for learning. Before starting the DPhil, I studied for the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice at Worcester College which taught me how to study issues in the criminal justice system from both doctrinal and interdisciplinary lenses. This degree really shaped my thinking and fostered an academic interest in the field of Criminal Law. I had been taught by brilliant professors such as Professor Lucia Zedner and Professor Julian Roberts, both of whom inspired my further interest in the field of sentencing, risk and national security, which led to my decision to undertake a doctorate program.

Could you tell us the title of your DPhil, the key findings of your research, and its wider implications for law and society?

My DPhil, ‘Criminalising Pre-Inchoate Terrorism-Related Offences: Redefining the Limits of the Criminal Law’, examined the expansion of preventive criminalisation in UK counter-terrorism law, particularly offences that impose criminal liability at a very early stage, sometimes even before conduct would ordinarily amount to preparation for an offence. I developed the idea of ‘pre-inchoate’ criminalisation to describe this form of liability and examined offences relating to possession, collection, encouragement, association to terrorism-related material.

The central argument of my thesis is that, although the state has a legitimate interest in preventing serious anticipatory harm through terrorism-related offences, moving criminal liability increasingly far from the commission of substantive acts create important problems. Terrorism-related offences that are ambiguous, vague and expansive, therefore, need particularly careful justification, both to preserve the traditional limits of the criminal law and to maintain the legitimacy of the state's response to terrorism. The wider question raised by the research is really one that extends beyond the topic of terrorism per se: how far should society permit the criminal law to intervene on the basis of pre-inchoate, vague and uncertain risks rather than completed harm? My research also has implications on the sentencing of terrorism, which I have written about.

Have you published any of your findings? If so, where?

I have published a recent article on the sentencing of the preparation of terrorism offence (section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2000) in the Criminal Law Review:

• F. Lee, ‘The Preparation of Terrorist Acts Guidelines: The Case For Greater Proportionality At Sentencing?’ (2026) Criminal Law Review 6, 340-358.

Otherwise, I am hoping to turn the DPhil into a monograph and some further articles to come.

What have you been doing since graduating from the DPhil, and what are your next steps? How has your experience of the DPhil prepared you for your chosen career?

I currently work as an Assistant Professor of Criminal Law in the University of Hong Kong, where I teach undergraduate and postgraduate students Criminal Law and theory.

The DPhil has prepared me for the academic pathway very well- sometimes I feel like work is an extension of all the good parts about studying for a doctorate degree, with lots of extras such as needing to apply for funding and more. I had the chance to teach undergraduate students at Oxford during the DPhil, which helped develop my teaching and communication skills, which helps a lot to improve my interactions with students!

What are you working on at the moment, and where is your research taking you next?

My current research continues to examine terrorism-related offences, sentencing and the limits of state intervention. I am increasingly interested in connecting doctrinal criminal law with broader questions about sentencing and preventive justice. Going forward, I am doing a project on sentencing reform in Hong Kong, which I am hoping to complete in 2028-2029.

How did you find the DPhil programme at Oxford? Were there any particular highlights of your time on the programme?

My experience of doing a DPhil was incredible – the programme is intellectually stimulating and extremely rewarding. One of the best things about the DPhil at Oxford is how much freedom you have to explore your research area, attend conferences and meet new people who are in the field you’re working in. Conversations with supervisors and researchers across Oxford often changed the way I approached a my research, which really taught me how to approach my thesis better. The highlight of my time in the programme would be teaching undergraduate students a lecture in terrorism and civil-criminal hybrid preventive orders- a topic which I had to read around the subject for and taught me a lot about how the criminal law interacted with real-life policies. I also enjoyed participating in societies at the university, such as the Oxford Asia Pacific Society.

What advice would you give to prospective applicants looking to apply for the DPhil at Oxford, or to anyone embarking on an independent research project?

I would encourage applicants to read around the subject and identify some questions that jump out at them. A DPhil lasts several years, so you really have to find an area that you’d love to research about. I would also say that a research proposal does not need to contain all of the answers. It’s more important to identify and position some of the key debates in the area, and ask what existing scholarship has not yet resolved, and how you might go about searching for some of the answers. Lastly, be prepared for your project to change over the course of a few years- some of the most important intellectual progress during a DPhil comes from revising some of your earlier ideas and seeing whether they can be evolved and reworked.

This interview was conducted in September 2026 by Megan Smith-Dobric (DPhil in Law candidate, Wolfson College, Oxford).