Nicky Padfield

Called

1978

Appointments

Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, 2009
Professeur invité at the University of Poitiers, France, 2008-9
Recorder of the Crown Court, 2003

Practice Areas and Specialisations

Nicola Padfield is a Senior Lecturer at the Law Faculty, University of Cambridge. A barrister by training, she has published widely on criminal law, sentencing and criminal justice. Her books include The Criminal Justice Process: Text and Materials (4rd edit, 2008); Criminal Law (6th edit, 2008); Beyond the Tariff: Human rights and the release of life sentence prisoners (2002); A Guide to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (with Biggs, S, and Farrell, S, 2002). She has edited other collections of essays, and is editor of Archbold News. She sits as a Recorder (part-time judge) in the Crown Court and is a Bencher of a Middle Temple.

Education and Qualifications

1978-79 Diplome des Etudes Superieures in French Law, University of Aix-Marseille
1977-78 Bar Finals; called to the Bar, Middle Temple
1976-77 Diploma in Criminology, Institute of Criminology and Darwin College, Cambridge
1973-76 Honours Degree in Jurisprudence, St. Anne's College, Oxford

Publications

Books

The Criminal Justice Process: Text and Materials (Butterworths, 1995). This book was short-listed for the Butterworths Prize 1995. 2nd edit, 2000; 3rd edit, 2003, 4th edit, 2008. Reviews available.
(Walker and Padfield) Sentencing: Theory, Law and Practice (2nd edition) Butterworths,1996
Criminal Law (1998; Butterworths), part of their Core Law Series, for which I am the General Editor. 2nd edit, 2000; 3rd edit, 2002; 4th edit, 2004; 5th edit, 2006; 6th edit, 2008; Now Oxford University Press. Reviews available.
A Guide to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (Butterworths, 1998)
Beyond the Tariff: Human rights and the release of life sentence prisoners (Willan Publishing, 2002); Reviews available.
A Guide to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (with Biggs, S, and Farrell, S, Butterworths, 2002)
Discretion: its uses in criminal justice and beyond (ed Gelsthorpe, L and Padfield, N)(Willan, 2003); Reviews available.
Who to release? Parole, fairness and criminal justice (editor; Willan, 2007). This results from the proceedings of a major conference I organised, September 2006.
Release from prison - European policy and practice (co-editor; Willan, forthcoming)

Commissioned Research/Grants

An Exploration of Decision-Making at Discretionary Lifer Panels, (with Dr Alison Liebling, and Helen Arnold). 2000 Home Office Research Study No 213. See also
Discretionary Lifer Panels - An Exploration of Decision-Making (2000, Home Office Research Findings No 132)
L'Harmonisation des Sanctions Pénales en Europe (I was part of this comparative sentencing project (led by Professor Mireille Delmas Marty of the University of Paris I) funded by the European Union (2002-3)
BA Academy Conference Grant 2006: 2,000: Parole conference, September 2006
Cour de Justice et Justice pénale: Nouveaux équilibres au sein de l'Union européenne (part of a team led by l'ARPE (Association de Recherches Pénales Européennes), funded by European Union, project started 2007, ongoing
English respondent to Etudes sur les prisons en Europe: Politiques pénitentiaires et conditions carcérales (with Louise Cowen) commissioned by CNRS-Juriscope, Poitiers, France under the leadership of Professeur Jacques David (2007)
British Academy Small Research Grant: 2007-8: 6,930 for the Cambridge sentencing and early release project (CESERP)
English respondent (with Professor John Spencer) to project on Surevillance et Prise en charge des detenus suicidaires au sein des etablissements penitentitaire, commissioned by CNRS-Juriscope, Poitiers (2008-9)

Chapters in Books

Major Articles

Small Claims Courts: Commonwealth Variations (1988) 7 Commonwealth Judicial Journal, No 3 page 9.
Duress, Necessity and the Law Commission [1992] Criminal Law Review 778-789
Parole and the Life Sentence Prisoner (1993) 32 Howard Journal 87-98
Setting Euthanasia on the Level (1993) XV (1) Liverpool Law Review 75 - 92 (with Tim Helme)
Assisting and Encouraging Crime [1994] Journal of Criminal Law 297- 302
Manslaughter: The Dilemma facing the Law Reformer [1995] Journal of Criminal Law 291-298
Clean Water and Muddy Causation: is causation a question of law or fact, or just a way of allocating blame? [1995] Criminal Law Review 683-694
Tariffs in Murder Cases [2002] Criminal Law Review 192-204
The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003: The ultimate nanny-state Act? [2004] Crim LR 712
The Parole Board in Transition (2006) Crim LR 3-22
The Revolving Door at the Prison Gate: Exploring the dramatic increase in recalls to prison (with Shadd Maruna) (2006) 6 Criminology and Criminal Justice 329-352
The implementation of the European Arrest Warrant in England and Wales (2007) 3 European Constitutional Law Review 253-268 (the EAW Project requested permission to post this article on their website: see www.eurowarrant.net)
Parole and early release: the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 changes in context [2009] Criminal Law Review 166-187
Interactions between the ECJ and the national courts of England and Wales in criminal matters (with Rebecca Williams) submitted
The Harmonisation of Sentencing Law: Hurdles and Pitfalls (not yet submitted for publication)

Book Reviews

Cambridge Law Journal e.g. on Allen's Textbook on Criminal Law;� Norrie's Crime, Reason and History (1994) 53 CLJ 177; Mackay's Mental Condition Defences in the Criminal Law (1996) 55 CLJ� 378;� Livingstone and Owen's Prison Law and Nash's Police, Probation and Protecting the Public (1999) 58 CLJ 635-638
Journal of Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health e.g. on Ashworth et al on the Criminal Justice Act 1991; ibid on the Youth Court (1992); Hostettler's Politics of Punishment (1995)
Commonwealth Judicial Journal.

Review articles

Law of Bail in Canada by Trotter, G reviewed at [1993] Toronto Law Journal 911
Rethinking English Homicide Law, eds Ashworth, A and Mitchell, B reviewed at (2002) 118 Law Quarterly Review 157-161
Taking Life Imprisonment Seriously by van Zyl Smit reviewed at (2003) 5 Punishment and Society 243-245
Contrasting Prisoners' Rights - A Comparative Examination of England and Germany by Liora Lazarus reviewed at (2005) 44 Howard Journal 444-446
The Trial on Trial: Volume One and Two (ed Antony Duff, Lindsay Farmer, Sandra Marshall and Victor Tadros reviewed at (2007) 46 Howard Journal 209-211
Witness Testimony: Psychological, Investigative and Evidential Perspectives (Ed Anthony Heaton-Armstrong, Eric Shepherd, Gisli Gudjonsson, and David Wolchover) reviewed at (2007) Commonwealth Judicial Journal

Non-legal articles

Up the Ladder: Why do women get off? (1997) Cambridge (the Journal of the Cambridge Society)

Turning Academics into Teachers? (with Rowland, S et al) (1998) 3 Teaching in Higher Education 133

Associated Work

Consultancies/Advisory Positions

Consultant to the Prison Review Team of the Prison Service on 'the role of the prison governor', 1999
Consultant to the Chief Inspector of Prisons on the Thematic Review of Unsentenced Prisoners, 1999-2000
Member, Prison Service's Advisory Committee on Difficult Prisoners (2006-2007)
Consultant to Sir Robin Auld and the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee (2005-7)
Member, Advisory Group to the Law Commission Criminal Group (2005)
Member, various Justice advisory groups (2005-)
Advocacy Training Council of the Bar Council (2006-)
Member, Bar Standards Board, Bar Vocational Course Review (2007-8)

Submissions to official bodies etc. include

Report of 8th Commonwealth Judges' and Magistrates' Conference, Ottawa, Canada, September 1988
Committee on the Penalty for Homicide (Chairman: Lord Lane), 1993
Report of the Caribbean Regional Judicial Colloquium for Senior Judges on the Promotion of the Human Rights of Women and the Girl Child through the Judiciary, 1997
Oral and Written evidence to a number of Parliamentary Committees e.g.
House of Lords' Select Committee on Medical Ethics, 1994; see HL Paper 21-II, at page 197);
House of Commons' Home Affairs Committee, on the mandatory life sentence and the 'year and a day' rule in murder, 1994 (Further memorandum submitted on request, 1996);
House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee on the Future Role of the Commonwealth (published in HC1995-6, 45-II, p 256);
House of Commons' Committee on the Lord Chancellor's Department (2003), on the Courts Bill 2002, published in Vol II of the Committee's First Report of the Session 2002-3;
Justice Committee of House of Commons (2008) (also cited in the Committee's 5th Report 2007-8, 'Towards Effective Sentencing').
Submissions (and discussions) on numerous Law Commission Consultation Papers e.g. no. 122, Legislating the Criminal Code: Offences against the Person and General Principles, 1992; no. 131, Assisting and Encouraging Crime, 1994; nos. 135 and 136, on Involuntary Manslaughter and the 'Year and a Day' rule in Homicide, 1994); Fraud and Deception (1999); Partial Defences to Murder (No 173, 2004)
Also responses to Home Office Consultation papers on e.g. Reducing Crime-Changing Lives (2004), the proposed amendment of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 by Order under the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 (2004), on Quashing Convictions (2006), on Making Sentencing Clearer (2007), Sentencing Commission Working Group (2008), Titan Prisons (2008)

Editorships and Editorial Boards

Archbold News (Relief Editor 1995-1996; Editor 1996-). The News is widely read by criminal law practitioners and academics, and I contribute monthly (ten a year) case comments and analyses of other developments.
General Editor of Butterworths' Core Law Series, a growing and successful series of textbooks launched in 1998 (now published by OUP). The series now has over 10 books, some in their 5th editions, and with more being commissioned.
Commonwealth Judicial Journal (Editor 1989-2004; Editorial Board 1987-89; 2004-).
Criminal Law Review (Editorial Board, from 2003)
Archbold Magistrates' Courts Practice (General Editor of major new work, first published by Sweet & Maxwell in 2004; annual edition, stood down 2007)

Barristers