Dr Nicola Wake

Dr Nicola Wake, Associate Professor in Law, Northumbria Law School

Dr Wake is Associate Professor in Law and Deputy Director for the Centre for Evidence and Criminal Justice Studies. She has published widely on mental condition defences, holds several editorial positions, and has secured funding from prestigious providers. 

She co-led on two successful bids for research seminar funding from the Modern Law Review (MLR). Understood to be the first time a post 1992 university has been awarded MLR funding of this type twice in the same academic year, the achievement is recognition of Northumbria and Dr Wake’s research quality and the Law School’s Centre for Evidence and Criminal Justice Studies. The first major international seminar on ‘Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery: Criminal Law and Evidence’, will take place at Northumbria Law School in autumn 2019.

As an internationally-recognised expert in human trafficking, Dr Wake was recently awarded a highly-acclaimed title of Kayes Fletcher Walker Visiting Scholar 2018 by New Zealand law practice, Kayes Fletcher Walker in conjunction with Auckland University of Technology (AUT), for her valued contribution to criminal law. The honour is bestowed to only one individual annually. It was given to Dr Wake following her work in relation to the UK Government’s introduction of criminal law defences, including more recently, for those compelled to commit offences due to slavery or exploitation. She was also invited to Auckland University to deliver a public lecture outlining the significant challenges facing victims of trafficking. Entitled ‘Trafficking victims compelled to commit offences: increasing the protection available in England, Wales and New Zealand’, she explored how to better protect victims.