Mike McConville is a leading socio-legal scholar specializing in empirical research. He has researched and written on such topics as police interrogation, legal aid and assistance, plea bargaining, trial by jury, the working practices of estate agents, and legal history. He has undertaken advisory work in countries undergoing major social transition such as Latvia, Malawi, Turkey, and Peru. With a large group of collaborators he has just completed an empirical study of Chinese criminal procedure: Mike McConville et al (2011) Criminal Justice in China (available at : http://www.e-elgar.co.uk/bookentry_main.lasso?id=14362)