Michael has taught at Newcastle Polytechnic/51 since graduating with an LL.B in 1983. In 1983 he enrolled as a PhD student, obtaining a major state studentship awarded on a competitive basis by the British Academy, whilst commencing lecturing duties on a part time basis. On obtaining a full time lecturing post in 1986 he transferred his PhD to a part time registration and was awarded a PhD in 1991, being promoted to senior lecturer in the same year. He was promoted to Principal Lecturer in 2008 and Professor in 2017, he was Head of Northumbria Law School from 2016 to 2025, standing down from January 2026. He established the University’s Centre for Evidence and Criminal Justice Studies in 2006 and was its Director until he stood down in 2023. He has published extensively on criminal and civil evidence in a variety of journals.
Michael’s research encompasses criminal and civil evidence. He has published extensively on those subjects in a variety of journals and was, for a number of years, contributing editor of Archbold Magistrates’ Courts Criminal Practice. In recent years, particular areas of interest have included expert evidence and legal professional privilege.
In relation to expert evidence, he was Principal Investigator responsible for a major research project relating to fingerprint evidence which was funded by the European Commission and a co-investigator under a European Commission funded project relating to DNA evidence. He co-edited a major edited collection on the reliability expert evidence in criminal proceedings. He was invited to give an Old Bailey Lecture on the subject to the Criminal Bar Association. He has worked with the Forensic Science Regulator to support her activities to enhance the quality of expert evidence in criminal proceedings. He engaged with the Law Commission to support its consultation activities in this area.
In recent years he has engaged with Rebecca Mitchell, an Associate Professor in the Law School, in ongoing research concerning the operation of legal professional privilege in a wide range of contexts, such as corporations, robots, Deferred Prosecution Agreements., the Law Officers' Convention and Search Warrants. He is currently engaged with Rebecca on research relating to expert and professional witnesses.
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