Luke Marsh teaches criminal law and criminal procedure, mooting, serves as supervisor to the Faculty’s Clinic Programme and instructs students on Trial Advocacy (PCLL). Luke has practised as a criminal barrister at one of the UK’s leading Chambers, representing and consulting clients in the Youth Court, Magistrates Court, Crown Court and Court of Appeal. He received the prestigious Baron Dr. Ver Heyden De Lancey Prize for the best performance by a Middle Temple member in the Bar Examinations. Before he joined the academic community, Luke was an Erasmus Scholar, receiving a grant to work at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Whilst there he was legal assistant to trial attorneys tasked with the indictment of Bosnian Genocide suspect, Radovan Karadzic. He has taken on cases for Justice Centre Hong Kong (formerly Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre) providing legal representation to asylum seekers appearing before the UNHCR. His most recent scholarly work includes a detailed examination of the erosion of the adversarial process in the English criminal justice system. Luke was selected for the Faculty’s inaugural Research in Teaching & Learning Award, in recognition of his research on the advancement of the teaching and learning experience.

EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• MSt International Human Rights Law (Oxford)
• LL.M (Northumbria) (Distinction)
• LL.B (Hons) (King’s College, London)
• Barrister of England and Wales

AWARDS & APPOINTMENTS

• Chinese University of Hong Kong, Research Excellence Award (2018-19)
• Door tenant, 25 Bedford Row, London
• Advisory Board Member, PILnet (Hong Kong)
• Visiting Research Fellow, British Institute of International and Comparative Law (2019)
• Visiting Scholar, University of California, Los Angeles (2018)
• Visiting Academic, University College London, UK (2017-2018)
• Visiting Scholar, Human Rights Law Centre, University of Nottingham (2014)
• Visiting Fellow, University of Auckland, Faculty of Law (2014)
• Visiting Scholar, Columbia University Law School (2013)
• Global Exchange Researcher, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan (2013)
• Visiting Fellow, University of Oxford – Refugee Studies Centre (2012)
• Visiting Fellow, University of Cambridge – Lauterpacht Centre for International Law (2010)
• Crown Prosecution Service Advocate (Level 1)
• Baron Dr Ver Heyden De Lancey Prize for best Bar Exam performance by a Middle Temple member
• Certificate of Honour, ranked outstanding on Bar Vocational Course by Middle Temple
• Hague Bursary, The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple
• Erasmus Scholar – received EU grant to work at the UNICTY
• Goodwill Ambassador of Matsue City, Japan

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Criminal Process / Justice
• Human Rights
• Refugee and Asylum Law
• Clinical Legal Education

MEMBERSHIP

• Socio-Legal Studies Association
• The Society of Legal Scholars
• The Honourable Society of Middle Temple
• Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA)
• Global Alliance for Justice Education (GAJE)

PUBLICATIONS

Monographs

• The Myth of Judicial Independence: Criminal Justice and the Separation of Powers (Oxford University Press, 2020) (150,000 words) (with Mike 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, June 2014) (120,000 words) (with Mike 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

• ‘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, forthcoming) (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

• Judicial Oversight in Criminal Justice and Procedural Legality, King’s Law Journal (forthcoming)
• 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).