Dr Steven Cammiss

Birmingham Law School
Associate Professor in Law

Contact details

Address
Birmingham Law School
University of Birmingham
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.

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

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 has longstanding teaching interests in Criminal Law, Criminal Justice 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 of Birmingham.

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. They have, so far, observed and commented upon the trial of the Stansted 15, and examined the processing of XR protestors who pleaded guilty in the magistrates’ court.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Hayes, G, Cammiss, S & Doherty, B 2021, 'Disciplinary power and impression management in the trials of the Stansted 15', Sociology, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 561-581. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038520954318

Cammiss, S, Hayes, G & Doherty, B 2021, 'Necessity, non-violent direct activism, and the Stansted 15: reasserting ‘Hoffmann’s Bargain’', Modern Law Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12715

Cammiss, S 2020, 'Driving Offences: Promoting Consistency for Victims in “Victimless” Crimes of Endangerment', Criminal Law Review, pp. 223-243.

Cammiss, S 2019, 'Law as Narrative: Narrative Interpretation and Appropriation as an Element of Theft', Statute Law Review, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 25-39. https://doi.org/10.1093/slr/hmy030

Cammiss, S & Kyd Cunningham, S 2015, 'Swift and sure justice? Mode of trial for causing death by driving offences', Criminology and Criminal Justice, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 321-339. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895814553131

Cammiss, S & Manchester, C 2012, '"Careering out of Control”: Decision-Making in Contested Cases under The Licensing Act 2003', Civil Justice Quarterly, vol. 31, pp. 89-112.

Cammiss, S & Manchester, C 2012, '"It is not my intention to be a killjoy...": Objecting to a Licence Application-The Complainers', International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 369-392. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-011-9234-9

Cammiss, S & Manchester, C 2011, 'Application process and Decision-Making under the Licensing Act 2003', Web Journal of Current Legal Issues.

Chapter

Cammiss, S, Doherty, B & Hayes, G 2023, Assemblies and the courts. in TA El-Haj, M Hamilton, T Probert & S Srinivasan (eds), Oxford Handbook of Peaceful Assembly. Oxford Handbooks, Oxford University Press.

Cammiss, S & Watkins, D 2017, Legal research in the humanities. in Research Methods in Law. Taylor and Francis, pp. 86-102. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315386669

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

Cammiss, S & Watkins, D 2013, Legal research in the humanities. in Research Methods in Law. Taylor and Francis, pp. 71-84. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203489352

Cammiss, S 2013, Stories in Law: Providing Space for Oppositionists? in M Freeman & F Smith (eds), Law and Language . Current Legal Issues, Oxford University Press.

Book/Film/Article review

Cammiss, S 2014, 'Just Emotions: Rituals of Restorative Justice by Meredith Rossner', Journal of Law and Society, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 662-668. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2014.00692.x

Cammiss, S 2012, 'Law and Narrative: Telling Stories in Court', Law and Humanities, vol. 6, pp. 130.

View all publications in research portal