Law

Law and Criminology


From taxation, corporate and EU law to civil litigation, human rights and family law: our strategic advice focuses on today's most pressing legal issues. We also provide analytical techniques and evidence based strategies to understand crime, order and criminal justice. We aim to answer the most timely and challenging legal and criminology questions from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Making a difference in the legislation making process and criminal justice

Our team explores issues both in the theory and practice of law as well as how different subfields of law relate to each other and to other sectors. We examine, for example, human rights law by applying philosophical, comparative and critical approaches. Our team specialises in human rights in relation to women’s rights, international law and the movement of people, terrorism and climate change.

In the private law sphere, we work at the conjunction between the finance sector and corporate law, providing guidance on financial stability, corporate governance, regulatory reform, and EU policy response to the financial crisis. In relation to this, we also specialise in taxation: international, EU and US tax planning, tax avoidance and the implications for the development of tax systems.

Looking at the medical and mental health law, we focus on matters around healthcare and pharmaceutical industry regulations, reproductive technologies, and end-of-life decision-making. For example, how can we improve the legal framework and ethical consensus around Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) to promote inclusion and equity for older adults and caregivers?

Our experts have an all-around interest in EU legislation and the impact of rulings by the European Court of Justice. Our work includes, but is not limited to, EU internal market liberalisation and competition, developments in EU environmental law, EU financial regulation, and EU taxation. For example, recently we have analysed the persistent challenges in implementing EU company law in terms of legislative harmonisation and conflict of interests in companies across all 28 member states.

Regarding criminology, our team develops scientific tools to deliver sustainable operational frameworks for crime-related institutions. Our work employs leading theoretical and empirical advances to address pressing criminological and policy issues. For instance, we have collaborated on the creation of an evaluation system for police forces using data analytics, as well as studied the current situation of organised crime.


Who we work with

We draw our experts predominantly from LSE’s Department of Law, one of the world’s best institutions for legal knowledge and research, the European Institute, and The Mannheim Centre for the Study of Criminology and Criminal Justice.


Areas of expertise

Legal process and law applicability

What we do:

Providing insights in the idiosyncrasies of the legal process and on the applicability of the law tailored to different contexts. 


Examples of our work:

Framework Contract for the Provision of External Expertise in the field of Justice and Home Affairs
European Parliament

Study on the Law Applicable to Companies with the Aim of a Possible Harmonisation of Conflict of Laws Rules on the Matter
European Commission – DG for Justice and Consumers, 2016

Methodology for a Scoping Project on EU Procedural Rights Directives
Open Society Institute (Budapest Foundation), 2017


Core experts:

>   Professor Conor Gearty
>   Edmund-Philipp Schuster
>   Alexander Soderholm

Law implementation and justice

What we do:

Tackling complex but important questions that arise from the implementation of complementary or sometimes conflicting legal regimes. We analyse practical problems around the implementation of domestic rules and provide normative recommendations to tackle those challenges.


Examples of our work:

Implementing Video Hearings (Party-to-State): A process evaluation
Ministry of Justice, 2018

Rules on independence and responsibility regarding auditing, tax advice, accountancy, account certification services and legal services
European Parliament & Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), 2017


Core experts:

>   Dr Ian Roxan
>   Dr Meredith Rossner

Criminology and police force

What we do:

Studying a wide array of aspects in relation to criminology and public policy. We focus on dimensions of crime, order and criminal justice that have not been looked into before or that require a new analytical perspective. Some examples of the work conducted include the exploitation of large data sets to understand various aspects of crime and policing as well as to understand organisations using data from the police. Other topics that fall within this category are: state crime, terrorism, environmental harms, and robbery. 


Examples of our work:

Police Operations Evaluation Framework: Developing a Pilot
Home Office, 2019

The Serious Organized Crime Threat to the UK: a study of demand, resource, and performance
The National Crime Agency (NCA), 2018


Core experts:

>   Professor Jonathan Jackson
>   Dr Meredith Rossner
>   Professor Tim Newburn
>   Professor Tom Kirchmaier

»  Get in touch to find out how we can collaborate