Law academic with global reputation delivers lecture series

A lecture series hosted by Northumbria University and delivered by one of the foremost authorities on criminal and mental health law has attracted significant interest among students, academics and the public.

Professor Warren Brookbanks, from Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, is in residence at Northumbria Law School until March 2018. He is a recognised globally for his teaching in criminal law, mental health law, criminal justice and non-adversarial justice. Professor Brookbanks is also co-author of New Zealand’s leading criminal law publication Principles of Criminal Law – a highly influential textbook referred to by legal academics and practitioners around the world.

His first lecture on January 10 on fitness to plead considered questions such as how the courts can protect defendants who are unable to participate effectively in their own trial, reflecting upon the approaches adopted across several international jurisdictions. Another popular and highly topical lecture looked at managing mental wellbeing in the legal profession. Causes for concern addressed by Professor Brookbanks included work-related stress and anxiety. He will develop the further in his next lecture on January 29, entitled Social Media and Mental Health – a subject commanding significant attention at present.

Professor Brookbanks’s tenure at Northumbria follows a highly prized Leverhulme Trust award for the support of research and education. It is the first-time Northumbria has secured such an award for a visiting professor, and reflects the growing reputation of Northumbria Law School’s Centre for Evidence and Criminal Justice, which is hosting the lectures.

Associate Professor Doctor Nicola Wake, who led the Leverhulme bid, said: “It is an honour to be working with Professor Brookbanks, to host his lectures and to collaborate with him on research. His writings on areas like fitness to plead and mental health have informed law making and are what academics and practitioners refer to for guidance. It is also a wonderful learning opportunity for our students, academics, members of the law profession and the public to hear his lectures on such topical themes.”

Professor Brookbanks said: “It has been my great privilege to have had the opportunity to collaborate with academic colleagues from Northumbria Law School. I am impressed with the academic vitality of the Law School and the range of valuable research projects being undertaken  by the staff I have had dealings with. I hope that the lecture series will feed into this research and assist to enhance the well deserved reputation of Northumbria Law School as a centre of academic excellence.”

For more information on the remaining lecture series please visit: https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/academic-departments/northumbria-law-school/research/northumbria-centre-for-evidence-criminal-justice-studies/forthcoming-events/

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