Books / Monographs

• Research Handbook on Plea Bargaining and Criminal Justice (Edward Elgar, 2024) (350,000 words) (with Máximo Langer and Mike McConville, Eds). Bringing together established and emerging scholars from around the world, this Research Handbook examines the history, practice, underlying issues and future evolution of plea bargaining, through which guilty pleas are secured and trials are avoided. The book has received endorsements from:

Mirjan Damaška (Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law, Yale Law School): “The full adjudicative process is everywhere in decline, replaced by various forms of negotiated or bargained justice. Langer, McConville and Marsh subject these new forms of justice to theoretical analysis from a variety of perspectives and offer thoughtful reflections about their likely future.”

Stephen J. Schulhofer (Robert B. McKay Professor of Law Emeritus, New York University School of Law): “An extraordinarily ambitious project … which offers incisive normative critique and perceptive guidance for future research. An invaluable contribution.”

Jill Hunter (Professor of Law, UNSW Law & Justice): “a milestone in contemporary criminal justice scholarship … [i]t cuts across legal traditions addressing corporate offender deal-making, empirical studies, ethical failures, myth, inequality, gender and race, revealing the global spread of failed justice through coercive incentives to concede guilt…”

Fiona Leverick (Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, University of Glasgow): “…timely, comprehensive and innovative … [a] real “must-read” for anyone interested in the contemporary debates about plea bargaining.”

Andrew Manuel Crespo (Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law, Harvard Law School): “Brimming with comparative insights, the international experts here offer a cautionary chorus, warning the world of an epidemic of plea bargaining now spreading across the globe.”

• The Myth of Judicial Independence: Criminal Justice and the Separation of Powers (Oxford University Press, 2020) (150,000 words) (with M McConville) This monograph critically examines the claim that judges in England and Wales (and other common law jurisdictions) are independent and free from political (and a fortiori government) influence, especially in the area of criminal justice. It provides original contributions to a range of key issues of political, legal, historical and sociological importance. The book received advance praise from:

Robert Blackburn QC (Professor of Constitutional Law, King’s College London):

“The leading study of judicial independence, superbly researched and fascinating reading for everyone interested in the past and present workings of the legal and justice system within the structure of British government … an indispensible and outstanding work.”

Richard Abel (Michael J. Connell Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA):

“It will force a fundamental reconsideration of the ‘Westminster Model’ at the very moment when it is under enormous stress.”

Geoffrey Robertson QC (Doughty Street, London):

“This book offers a fascinating analysis of behind-the-scenes interplay between English judges, politicians, Whitehall and the police over the non-statutory rules which throughout the twentieth century were meant to secure the liberty of the subject from oppressive police action.”

Paul Roberts (Professor of Criminal Jurisprudence, Nottingham):

“In a narrative by turns gripping and disturbing… [t]his ‘history of the present’ poses urgent questions for the contemporary condition of the administration of criminal justice, the vitality of common law method and the (global) rule of law under the tightening rachets of managerialism and austerity.”

• Criminal Judges: Legitimacy, Courts and State-Induced Guilty Pleas in Britain (Edward Elgar, 2014) (120,000 words) (with M McConville)
  Against a backdrop of a dysfunctional criminal justice system, this monograph on criminal justice brings legal and empirical material to question the legitimacy of the relationship between judges, lawyers, politicians and defendants in modern Britain. Examining existing legal structures and court practices through the lens of what used to be called ‘plea bargaining’ the book provides a graphic picture of why case disposals through enforced guilty pleas promote injustice, feed discrimination and skew the judicial function. This is the most comprehensive examination to date of case disposition methods in England, Wales and Scotland, underpinned by a new socio-legal theory on the criminal process.

Book Chapters

• ‘Guilty Pleas in Criminal Justice: Putting Just on Ice’ in Notions of Justice in England and Wales (Johnston and Smyth (eds) (Routledge, forthcoming).
• ‘A Portrait of Guilt from England and Wales: Defending against State-induced Pleas’ in Research Handbook on Plea Bargaining and Criminal Justice, Langer, McConville and Marsh (eds) (Edward Elgar, 2024).
• ‘Introduction: Setting the Scene’ in  Research Handbook on Plea Bargaining and Criminal Justice, Langer, McConville and Marsh (eds) (Edward Elgar, 2024) (with Langer and McConville).
• ‘Final Thoughts: Signposting the Future’ in Research Handbook on Plea Bargaining and Criminal Justice, Langer, McConville and Marsh (eds) (Edward Elgar, 2024) (with Langer and McConville).
• ‘Tipping the Scales of Justice: Covid-19 and Detention without Trial’ in, Covid-19 and Criminal Justice: Impact and Legacy in England and Wales (Ed Johnston (ed) Routledge, 2023) (with M McConville).
• ‘Serious Sex Offences in England and Wales: defending the indefensible’ in, Sexual Violence on Trial; Local and Comparative Perspectives (Kilean, Dowds and McAlinden (eds)) (Routledge, Jan 2023) (with J Dein QC).
• ‘Refugees in Hong Kong: Prisoners of the Past’ in, Global Refugee Crisis: A Contemporary Reflection (Sanoj Rajan (Ed.) (Thomson Reuters, 2018)
• Factory farming and State-Induced Pleas in, The Integrity of Criminal Process: From Theory into Practice (J. Hunter, P. Roberts, S. Young and D. Dixon (eds.)) (Hart, August 2016). For further see:  http://www.hartpub.co.uk/BookDetails.aspx?ISBN=9781849465946
• Pathways to Social Transformation through Clinic: Developing a ‘Social Justice’ Culture in Hong Kong in Clinical Legal Education in Asia, (S. P. Sarker (Ed.) (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) (with M Ramsden) available at: (http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/clinical-legal-education-in-asia-shuvro-prosun-sarker/?K=9781137517524%20)
• The Hong Kong Anti-Money Laundering Ordinances: Commentary and Annotations (1st edition, Sweet and Maxwell, July 2014) (with M Ramsden, H Mahncke and Sidney Yankson).
• Legal Education in Hong Kong: a History of Reform in, Legal Education in Asia, (S. P. Sarker (ed.)) (Eleven Pub, Netherlands, 2013) (with M Ramsden and C Young).
• The Hong Kong Drug Trafficking (Recovery of Proceeds) Ordinance: Commentary and Annotations (1st edition, Sweet & Maxwell, 2013) (with H Pun, B Tsoi and M Ramsden).
• The Hong Kong Anti-Discrimination Ordinances (1st ed, Sweet & Maxwell, 2013) (with H Pun, A Lui and M Ramsden).
• Minimum Wage Ordinance: a commentary (1st edn, Hong Kong, Sweet & Maxwell, 2012) (120 pages) (with M Ramsden).
• Discrimination, Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Lexis Nexis Butterworths, Vol. 22, 2011) (with M Ramsden).
• Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles, Annotated Ordinances of Hong Kong, (Cap. 390) (Lexis Nexis, 2011) (with M Ramsden).
• Foreign Judgments (Restriction on Recognition and Enforcement) Ordinance (Cap 46)’, The Annotated Ordinances of Hong Kong (1st issue, LexisNexis, 2011) (with M Ramsden).
• Human Rights, Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong (Lexis Nexis, vol. 14, 2011) (with M Ramsden).
• Prevention of Bribery in, Hong Kong Commercial Crimes Handbook (Hong Kong: Lexis Nexis, 1st ed, 2010) (with M Ramsden).
• Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance (Cap 554), Annotated Ordinances of Hong Kong, (Reissue, LexisNexis 2010) (with M Ramsden).
• Contempt of Court, Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong (Lexis Nexis, 2010) Vol. 7(1) (with M Ramsden).
• Education, Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong (LexisNexis, 2010 Vol. 10(1) (with M Ramsden).
• Evidence, Halsbury’s Laws of Hong Kong (LexisNexis 2009) Vol. 12(1) (with M Ramsden).
• Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap 201), Annotated Ordinances of Hong Kong, (First Issue, LexisNexis, 2009) (with M Ramsden).

Articles

• Resuscitating criminal courts after Covid-19: Trialling a cure worse than the disease, International Journal of Evidence & Proof (2021) (with M McConville) (Sage, available via First View).
• The wrong vaccine: custody time limits and loss of liberty during Covid-19, Legal Studies (2021) (Cambridge University Press, available via First View).
• Judicial Oversight in Criminal Justice and Procedural Legality, King’s Law Journal (available here).
• Corruption at the Met – in plain sight?, New Law Journal (2021) (with M McConville) Vol 171, Issue 7939.
• Criminal Justice in a time of Covid-19: Paralysis and Prognosis, New Law Journal (2020) Vol 170, Issue 7906 (with Mike McConville).
• The Tommy Robinson Case and Contempt of Court: Conflicting Interpretations of the Criminal Procedure Rules, Criminal Law Review (2020) 1.
• Leveson’s Narrow Pursuit of Justice: Efficiency and Outcomes in the Criminal Process, Common Law World Review (Sage) Volume 45 (1) 2016)
• The Strategic Use of Human Rights Treaties in Hong Kong’s Cage-Home Crisis: No Way Out?, Asian Journal of Law and Society (Cambridge University Press), (2016)
• Developments in Hong Kong Legal Education, Asian Journal of Legal Education (SAGE), (2016)
• Adversarialism goes West: Case Management in Criminal Courts, The International Journal of Evidence and Proof (2015) 19(3) (with M McConville). LINK
• Reflections on a High School Mooting Competition: Bridging the Gap between Secondary and Tertiary Education, The Law Teacher, March 2015.
• Same Sex Marriage in Hong Kong: The Case for a Constitutional Right, The International Journal of Human Rights (2015, Vol 19, Issue 1) (with M Ramsden) available at: (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13642987.2014.992015#abstract%20)
• All the King’s men, police powers and the reining in of liberty, Journal of Criminal Law (2014) 78:4
• Justice from Afar: Taking Off the Blindfold, Archbold News Hong Kong (Sweet & Maxwell, 2014)
• Review of D. Newman, Legal Aid Lawyers and the Quest for Justice, Hart Publishing (Oxford, 2013), in the International Journal of Evidence and Proof, (2014) 18 282-285.
• Refugees in Hong Kong: Developing the Legal Framework for Socio-Economic Rights Protection, Human Rights Law Review (2014) 14(2): 267-299 (with M Ramsden).
  (available at: http://hrlr.oxfordjournals.org/content/14/2/267.abstract)
• Setting aside the innocent: Plea Bargaining in Hong Kong, Archbold News Hong Kong (Sweet & Maxwell, 2014)
• Paper for Special Meeting of the Legislative Council Panel on Welfare Services on 13 January 2014, Submission to LegCo for the meeting entitled ‘Ways to improve situation of refugees, torture claimants and asylum seekers in Hong Kong’ available at: (http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr13-14/english/panels/ws/papers/ws0113cb2-663-1-e.pdf)
• Using Clinical Education to Innovate the Law Curriculum and Address an Unmet Legal Need: A Hong Kong Perspective, Journal of Legal Education, vol. 63, no. 3 (February 2014)(with M Ramsden).
• Fostering Civic Engagement Through Legal Education: Observations from Hong Kong, Asian Journal of Legal Education (2014), 1(1) 57-65 (with M Ramsden)
• The ‘Right to Work’ of Refugees in Hong Kong: MA v Director of Immigration, International Journal of Refugee Law (2013) Vol. 25 No.3 available at: (http://ijrl.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/10/29/ijrl.eet036.abstract)
• Cameras in Court: ‘Sound bite’ Justice? Archbold News Hong Kong (Vol. 1, Sweet & Maxwell, 2013).
• Joint criminal enterprise: Cambodia’s reply to Tadić, International Criminal Law Review 11 (2011) (with M Ramsden).
• A necessary approach to the rule against double jeopardy? Archbold News Hong Kong (Sweet & Maxwell, vol. 2, 2010).
• Selection of Jurors, Archbold News Hong Kong (Sweet & Maxwell, vol. 2, 2010).