Emma Piasecki

Head Of School

School: Northumbria School of Law

Emma was called to the Bar in 2001 by the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn and practised as a barrister at New Park Court Chambers in Newcastle until 2014. Specialising in Criminal Law, Emma prosecuted and defended a broad range of cases, including very serious cases, in the Crown Court and Youth Court. She remains an Academic Member of New Park Court Chambers. Emma is currently an Associate Professor of Law and her research focuses on expert evidence in the criminal justice system, with a particular emphasis on the communication of such evidence. Emma has published widely in this area in both legal and scientific peer reviewed articles, book chapters and case notes. Her most recent article, published in Forensic Science International, proposes a framework to assist both lawyers and scientists in the assessment of reliability.

Following long-standing roles as Director of Learning and Teaching with responsibility for Postgraduate Professional Programmes and Director of the Bar Programmes (which included the design and BSB validation of the new Northumbria Bar Course), Emma retains an interest in the training of legal professionals, particularly the Bar.

Emma has been involved in inter-disciplinary research applications generating funding of over £350,000 in the area of criminal justice co-operation within the EU.

Emma is a Case Note Editor for the Journal of Criminal Law. Emma is also a Committee Member of the Society of Legal Scholars representing Northumbria University and an External Examiner appointed by the Bar Standards Board.

Emma is also involved in International Development on behalf of the Law School with responsibility for assisting in overseas partner management and development. Emma has particular responsibility currently for Malaysia, Thailand and Mauritius.

Campus Address

School of Law
City Campus East
Newcastle

Email Emma

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Digital Forensics within the Criminal Justice System: Use, Effectiveness, and Impact, Griffiths, C., Piasecki, E., Carr, S., Anderson, P., Wilson, T. 15 Mar 2024
Demonstrating reliability through transparency: a scientific validity framework to assist scientists and lawyers in criminal proceedings, Carr, S., Piasecki, E., Gallop, A. 1 Mar 2020
Clarifying the ‘reliability’ continuum and testing its limits: biometric (fingerprint and DNA) expert evidence, Carr, S., Gallop, A., Piasecki, E., Tully, G., Wilson, T. 30 Nov 2018, Forensic Science Evidence and Expert Witness Testimony, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar
Demonstrating Reliability and Directing Scrutiny: a framework to assist scientists and lawyers, Piasecki, E., Carr, S., Tully, G., Gallop, A. 30 Aug 2018, 8th European Academy of Forensic Science Conference
Duties of the Expert Witness: R v Pabon [2018] EWCA Crim 420, Carr, S., Piasecki, E. 1 Apr 2018, In: The Journal of Criminal Law
Northumbria University Centre for Evidence and Criminal Justice Studies (NCECJS) – Written evidence (FRS0038), Wilson, T., Stockdale, M., Jackson, A., Carr, S., Davies, G., Piasecki, E. 14 Sep 2018
Re-examining the ‘reliability’ of forensic pathology evidence, Wilson, T., Jackson, A., Gallop, A., Piasecki, E. 30 Nov 2018, Forensic Science Evidence and Expert Witness Testimony, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar
Science and Justice Research Interest Group (RIG), Northumbria University - written evidence to the Science and Technology Committee (Lords) inquiry on forensic science (FRS0051), McCartney, C., Evison, M., Ward, T., Wortley, N., Piasecki, E., Nsiah Amoako, E., Amankwaa, A., Jackson, A. 14 Sep 2018
Science Friction: Streamlined Forensic Reporting, Reliability and Justice, Edmond, G., Carr, S., Piasecki, E. 1 Dec 2018, In: Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
Brexit and the Law School, Noto La Diega, G., Carr, S., Davies, G., Dunn, R., Jackson, A., Piasecki, E. 10 Jul 2017, Brexit and the Law School

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Oral presentation: 'Critical trust' as a reformative principle in criminal justice 2018
Oral presentation: Demonstrating Reliability and Directing Scrutiny: as framework to assist scientists and lawyers 2018

PGR Supervision

Susan Carney-Gannon A qualitative review of attitudes and practice pertinent to streamlined forensic reporting in the context of admissibility in a criminal trial, with a view to developing intelligible approaches to reporting forensic science findings Start Date: 17/04/2024