Dr Steven Cammiss

Birmingham Law School
Associate Professor in Law

Contact details

Address
Birmingham Law School
University Âé¶¹¾«Ñ¡
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Steven is an Associate Professor, having previously worked at the University of Leicester. His research focuses upon the operation of the criminal justice process (particularly courtroom processes) and in the broad field of law and language. His current research is an interdisciplinary project on the criminal trials of activists. 

Qualifications

  • PhD (Warwick)
  • LLM (KCL, London)
  • LLB (KCL London)

Biography

Steven is originally from South East Durham and was the first in his family to attend university. He completed his LLB and LLM in London (KCL) before moving to Warwick for his PhD, where he was also a Graduate Teaching Assistant. His first post was as a lecturer at Birmingham before moving to the University of Leicester, where he was promoted to Senior Lecturer. He returned to Birmingham in January 2021.

Steven was formerly a member of Leicestershire’s Office of Police and Crime Commissioner’s Ethics, Integrity and Complaints Committee.

Teaching

Steven's teaching interests are Criminal Law, Criminal Justice, Criminal Evidence and Policing. 

Postgraduate supervision

I am interested in supervising students in the broad fields of Criminal Justice, Policing and Law and Language. Previous students have completed their doctorates on subjects such as identifying vulnerability in police custody, the history of jury trial, and incitement to commit genocide.


Find out more - our PhD Law  page has information about doctoral research at the University Âé¶¹¾«Ñ¡.

Research

Since completing his PhD on the allocation decision in magistrates’ courts, Steven has continued to engage in theoretically informed empirical socio-legal research. He has, as part of a research team, examined the processing of licensing applications, roads policing, and the trials of protestors.

His current research examines the criminal justice process’ response to protest. While much has been written on the policing of protest, comparatively little is known about what happens to those prosecuted in the courts. To remedy this, Steven is part of an interdisciplinary team examining the treatment of protestors in the courts. This has included the observation of a number of high profile trials, such as the trials of the Colston 4 and Stansted 15, as well as trials of Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil, and Palestine Action activists.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Cammiss, S, Hayes, G & Doherty, B 2025, '', Oxford Journal of Legal Studies.

Hayes, G, Cammiss, S, Doherty, B & Saunders, C 2024, '', Environmental Politics.

Hayes, G, Cammiss, S & Doherty, B 2021, '', Sociology, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 561-581.

Cammiss, S, Hayes, G & Doherty, B 2021, '', Modern Law Review.

Cammiss, S 2020, '', Criminal Law Review, pp. 223-243.

Cammiss, S 2019, '', Statute Law Review, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 25-39.

Cammiss, S & Kyd Cunningham, S 2015, '', Criminology and Criminal Justice, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 321-339.

Cammiss, S & Manchester, C 2012, '', Civil Justice Quarterly, vol. 31, pp. 89-112.

Chapter

Cammiss, S, Doherty, B & Hayes, G 2024, . in TA El-Haj, M Hamilton, T Probert & S Srinivasan (eds), Oxford Handbook of Peaceful Assembly. Oxford Handbooks, Oxford University Press.

Cammiss, S & Hayes, G 2024, . in C Bevan & D Gurnham (eds), Law, Narrative and Masterplot: New Research Perspectives . Routledge.

Cammiss, S & Watkins, D 2017, . in Research Methods in Law. Taylor and Francis, pp. 86-102.

Cammiss, S 2013, . in A Hucklesby & A Wahidin (eds), Criminal Justice. 2nd edn, Oxford University Press.

Cammiss, S & Watkins, D 2013, . in Research Methods in Law. Taylor and Francis, pp. 71-84.

Cammiss, S 2013, in M Freeman & F Smith (eds), Law and Language . Current Legal Issues, Oxford University Press.

Book/Film/Article review

Cammiss, S 2014, '', Journal of Law and Society, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 662-668.

Expertise

Steven regularly writes short pieces for a public audience on the criminal trials of activists and is often interviewed by journalists on high profile trials.

He is happy to speak to the media on protest related issues, but particularly on the trials of activists.