Professor Stewart Field

Professor of Law

: Available for postgraduate supervision

I became a lecturer at Cardiff in 1984 after doctoral research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford. I had previously obtained an M Phil in Criminology at Cambridge after a first degree in Law at Oxford University. My PhD `Legal Forms, Legal Ideology and the Early Factory Inspectorate' used an historical case-study to examine the interaction between social conflict and legal forms. In recent years, my research interests have focussed around comparative criminal justice. I have co-written two monographs and co-edited six collections of essays as well as publishing many articles on a variety of criminal justice topics. These include detailed bilateral studies comparing England and Wales with the Netherlands, France and Italy. My most recent published work was a 2019 special issue of the Journal of Law and Society that I co-edited with Dr Renaud Colson (University of Nantes, France): it examined whether and how it is possible to devise effective criminal justice policy by drawing on the experience of other jurisdictions. I am currently co-leading (with Professor Cyrus Tata, University of Strathclyde, Scotland) an international comparative project on the role of remorse and the acceptance of responsibility in criminal justice. We are co-editing a volume based on the project for Hart Publishing The Ideal Defendant: Showing Remorse and Taking Responsibility.

I have been a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Law and Society since 1989. For many years I was the Director of our Law and French degree programme and remain the Erasmus coordinator for our links with Amiens and Nantes. I have been Head of the Law Department since 2019.

Date
Type

2025

Field, S. and Machura, S. 2025. The Youth Court in England and Wales: Learnings from European contexts and local developments. Prison Service Journal 278

2024

Field, S. 2024. Criminal justice and digitalized dialogue: comparative reflections on some key themes. In: Gadbin--George, G. and Taleb-Karlsson, A. eds. Justice pénale numérique en France et au Royaume-Uni. L’impact des nouvelles technologies sur les droits de l’homme à la lumière des droits nationaux et européens. Panthéon Assas, pp. 17-26.

2023

Field, S. 2023. The enactment of political cultures in criminal process: remorse, responsibility and the unique individual before the French cours d’assises. In: Field, S. and Tata, C. eds. Criminal Justice and the Ideal Defendant in the making of Remorse and Responsibility’. Oxford: Hart, pp. 191-212.
Field, S. and Tata, C. 2023. Locating the ideal defendant: punishment, violence and legitimacy. In: Tata, C. and Field, S. eds. Criminal Justice and the Ideal Defendant in the making of Remorse and Responsibility. Oxford: Hart, pp. 3-27.

2022

Field, S. 2022. Making sense in cross-cultural research in criminal justice: some reflections on theory and method. In: Nelken, D. and Hamilton, C. eds. Research Handbook of Comparative Criminal Justice. Research Handbooks in Comparative Law Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 141-153., (10.4337/9781839106385.00017)

2015

Field, S. 2015. Developing local cultures in criminal justice policy-making: the case of youth justice in Wales. In: Wasik, M. and Santatzoglou, S. eds. The Management of Change in Criminal Justice: Who Knows Best?. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 170-185., (10.1057/9781137462497_10)

2013

Field, S. A. 2013. Miscarriages of justice and procedural tradition. In: Kelk, C., Koenradt, F. and Siegel, D. eds. Veelzijdige gedachten: Liber amicorum prof. dr. Chrisje Brants. Willem Pompe Instituut Vol. 75. Den Haag: Boom Lemma, pp. 397-405.

2012

Field, S. A. 2012. La politique pénale en Angleterre et au Pays de Galles: formation et responsabilité. Actualité Juridique Pénal 2012(9), pp. 455-458.
Field, S. A. 2012. La procédure pénale anglaise et la tradition accusatoire. In: Benillouche, M. ed. Les procédures accusatoires. Centre de droit privé et de sciences criminelles d'Amiens - CEPRISCA Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, pp. 105-114.
Dorange, A. and Field, S. A. 2012. Reforming defence rights in French police custody: a coming together in Europe?. International Journal of Evidence and Proof 16(2), pp. 153-174. (10.1350/ijep.2012.16.2.396)

2011

Colson, R. and Field, S. A. 2011. The transformation of criminal justice: comparing France with England and Wales. Bibliothèques de droit. Paris: L’Harmattan.
Field, S. A. 2011. Finding or imposing coherence? Comparing national cultures of youth justice. Journal of Comparative Law 5(2), pp. 216-231.

2010

Field, S. A. and Nelken, D. 2010. Reading and writing youth justice in Italy and (England and) Wales. Punishment and Society 12(3), pp. 287-308. (10.1177/1462474510369444)
Field, S. A. and Tata, C. 2010. Connecting legal and social justice in the neo-liberal world? The construction, interpretation and use of pre-sentence reports. Punishment & Society 12(3), pp. 235-238. (10.1177/1462474510369440)
Field, S. A. and Munagorri, R. 2010. Pour une recherche juridique critique, engagée et ouverte. Recueil Dalloz 24, pp. 1505-1507.
Field, S. A. 2010. L'évolution de la défense pénale en Angleterre et au Pays de Galles: tensions et contradictions. Revue pénitentiaire et de droit pénal, pp. 233-240.

2009

Field, S. A. 2009. Fair trials and procedural traditions in Europe. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 29(2), pp. 365-387. (10.1093/ojls/gqp004)

2008

Field, S. A. 2008. Répression ou tolérance? Différence culturelle et justice des mineurs. Une étude de cas en Italie, en Angleterre et au Pays de Galles.. In: Bailleau, F. ed. Evolution ou rupture? La Justice des Mineurs en Question. Vaucresson: Ecole Nationale de Protection Judiciaire de la Jeu, pp. 125-132.
Field, S. A. 2008. Early intervention and the 'New' Youth Justice: a study of initial decision-making. Criminal Law Review 2008(3), pp. 177-190.

2007

Field, S. A. and Nelken, D. 2007. Early intervention and the cultures of youth justice: a comparison of Italy and Wales. In: Gessner, V. and Nelken, D. eds. European Ways of Law: Towards a European Sociology of Law. Oñati International Series in Law and Society Vol. 1. Oxford: Hart, pp. 349-374.
Field, S. 2007. Practice cultures and the 'new' youth justice in (England and) Wales. British Journal of Criminology 47(2), pp. 311-330. (10.1093/bjc/azl088)

2006

Field, S. A. 2006. State, Citizen and Character in French Criminal Process. Journal of Law and Society 33(4), pp. 522-546. (10.1111/j.1467-6478.2006.00369.x)
Field, S. 2006. State, citizen, and character in French criminal process. Journal of Law and Society 33(4), pp. 522-546. (10.1111/j.1467-6478.2006.00369.x)

2005

Field, S. A. 2005. Entre protection et répression de l'enfant dans l'espace Européen: table ronde [Between protection and repression of the child in the European space: roundtable]. In: Gadbin, D. and Kernaleguen, F. eds. Le Statut Jurirdique de L'Enfant dans L'espace Européen [The Legal Status of the Child in the European Union]. Brussels: Bruylant, pp. 437-463.
Field, S. A. 2005. La responsabilité pénale de l'enfant: l'exemple Britannique [Criminal responsibility of the child: the British example]. In: Gadbin, D. and Kernaleguen, F. eds. Le Statut Jurirdique de L'Enfant dans L'espace Européen [The Legal Status of the Child in the European Union]. Brussels: Bruylant, pp. 417-435.

2003

Field, S. A. and West, A. 2003. Dialogue and the inquisitorial tradition: French defence lawyers in the pre-trial criminal process. Criminal Law Forum 14(3), pp. 261-316. (10.1023/B:CRIL.0000037066.92478.3e)
Field, S. A. 2003. Responsabilite, justice et procedure penal comparee. Revue Generale de Droit 33(2), pp. 257-269.

2002

Field, S. A. and Roberts, P. I. 2002. Racism and police investigations: individual redress, public interests and collective change after the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. Legal Studies 22(4), pp. 493-526. (10.1111/j.1748-121X.2002.tb00666.x)

2000

Brants, C. and Field, S. A. 2000. Legal cultures, political cultures and procedural traditions: Towards a comparative interpretation of covert and proactive policing in England and Wales and in the Netherlands. In: Nelken, D. ed. Contrasts in Criminal Justice. Advances in Criminology Aldershot: Ashgate Dartmouth, pp. 77-115.

1999

Brants, C. and Field, S. A. 1999. Convergence in European criminal justice. In: Hondius, E. H. and Jessurun d'Oliveira, H. U. eds. De Meerwaarde van de Rechtsvergelijking. Geschriften van de Nederlandse Vereniging voor Rechtsvergelijking Vol. 57. Deventer Kluwer, pp. 179-199.

1998

Field, S. A. and Pelser, C. eds. 1998. Invading the private: State accountability and new investigative methods in Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate Dartmouth.
Field, S. A. 1998. Introduction. In: Field, S. A. and Pelser, C. eds. Invading the Private: State Accountability and New Investigative Methods in Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate Dartmouth, pp. 1-20.
Field, S. A. and Jörg, N. 1998. Judicial regulation of covert and proactive policing in the Netherlands and England and Wales. In: Field, S. A. and Pelser, C. eds. Invading the Private: State Accountability and New Investigative Methods in Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate Dartmouth, pp. 323-352.
Field, S. A. 1998. Invading the private? Towards conclusions. In: Field, S. A. and Pelser, C. eds. Invading the Private: State Accountability and New Investigative Methods in Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate Dartmouth, pp. 371-388.
Field, S. A. 1998. The legal framework of covert and proactive policing in France. In: Field, S. A. and Pelser, C. eds. Invading the Private: State Accountability and New Investigative Methods in Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate Dartmouth, pp. 67-81.

1997

Brants, C. and Field, S. A. 1997. Les méthodes d'enquête proactive et le contrôle des risques. Déviance et Société 21(4), pp. 401-414. (10.3406/ds.1997.1825)

1995

Field, S. A. and West, A. 1995. A tale of two reforms: French defense rights and police powers in transition. Criminal Law Forum 6(3), pp. 473-506. (10.1007/BF01096037)
Field, S. A., Alldridge, P. and Jörg, N. 1995. Prosecutors, examining judges and control of police investigations. In: Harding, C. et al. eds. Criminal Justice in Europe: A Comparative Study. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 227-249.
Brants, C. and Field, S. A. 1995. Discretion and accountability in prosecution: a comparative perspective on keeping crime out of court. In: Harding, C. et al. eds. Criminal Justice in Europe: A Comparative Study. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 127-148.
Brants, C., Field, S. A. and Jörg, N. 1995. Are adversarial and inquisitorial systems converging?. In: Harding, C. et al. eds. Criminal Justice in Europe: A Comparative Study. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 41-56.
Brants, C. H. and Field, S. A. 1995. Participation rights and proactive policing: convergence and drift in European criminal process. Nederlandse Vereniging voor Rechtsvergelijking Vol. 51. Deventer: Kluwer.

1994

Field, S. A. and Thomas, P. A. 1994. Introduction. In: Field, S. A. and Thomas, P. A. eds. Justice and Efficiency: the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 1-19.
Field, S. A. and Thomas, P. A. eds. 1994. Justice and efficiency? The Royal Commission on Criminal Justice. Oxford: Blackwell.
Field, S. A. and Thomas, P. A. 1994. Judicial supervision of police investigations. In: Field, S. A. and Thomas, P. A. eds. Justice and Efficiency: the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 119-135.
Field, S. A. and Young, J. R. 1994. Disclosure, appeals and procedural traditions: Edwards v. United Kingdom. Criminal Law Review(April), pp. 264-271.
Field, S. A. 1994. Judicial supervision and the pre-trial process. Journal of Law and Society 21(1), pp. 119-135.

1993

Field, S. A. 1993. Defining interviews under PACE. Legal Studies 13(2), pp. 254-263. (10.1111/j.1748-121X.1993.tb00484.x)

1992

Field, S. A. and Lynn, M. 1992. The capacity for recklessness. Legal Studies 12(1), pp. 74-91. (10.1111/j.1748-121X.1992.tb00458.x)

1991

Field, S. A. and Jorg, N. 1991. Strafrechtelijke aansprakelijkheid van rechtspersonen voor dodelijke ongevallen naar nederlands en engels recht. Panopticon 12(3)
Jorg, N. and Field, S. A. 1991. Corporate liability and manslaughter: should we be going Dutch?. Criminal Law Review(March), pp. 156-171.

1990

Field, S. A. 1990. Without the law? Professor Arthurs and the early factory inspectorate. Journal of Law and Society 17(4), pp. 445-468. (10.2307/1409901)

Research Interests

General subjects: criminal process, comparative law and legal culture, youth justice.
Particular interests: comparative criminal process, comparative youth justice, French law and legal cultureC

Current project

The Ideal Defendant: Showing Remorse and Taking Responsibility (Hart 2021)

Editors: Stewart Field and Cyrus Tata

Stewart Field (chapter): Remorse, Responsibility and the Unique Individual: the Enactment of Political Cultures before the French Cour d’Assises

Grants

1995 British Council Know How Fund for Bulgaria: £6,750 (Teaching Programme for Bulgarian Judges).

1995/6 University of Wales Collaboration Fund: £2,500 (Organised and co-ordinated international group of scholars working on comparative perspectives on covert and proactive policing, securing financing from University of Wales Collaboration Fund for seminars in Grygnog (Wales) and Maastricht (Netherlands) and leading to edited collection published by Dartmouth

1996 Economic and Social Research Council £79,825 )Obtained ESRC grant for project `Defence Lawyers in the French Criminal Process’. Lead investigator spending a year collecting empirical research

2001: Economic and Social Research Council £72, 128 (Obtained ESRC grant for project `Early Intervention and Youth Justice in England and Wales and Italy' (with M Drakeford SOCSI and D Nelken CLAWs). Lead investigator supervising gathering of empirical material (interviews and case-files)

2008: British Academy, £11,507 (Obtained funds as host sponsor to enable Dr Renaud Colson (University of Nantes) to come to Cardiff to work together on ‘Fair Trial and Managerialism in Criminal Justice: an Anglo-French study in comparative law’ under BA Visiting Fellowship Award)

2011: Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellowship, £40, 360 (6 month Fellowship for project: Making sense of youth justice: a comparative study of Italy and Wales)

2016: Cardiff Incoming Visiting Fellows Scheme & International Collaboration Seedcorn Fund, £5,000 (research collaboration with Dr Renaud Colson)

2016: Centre for Law and Society Research Theme Funding, series of workshops ‘Security and Justice: the challenge of the transnational’, £12,000, (coordination of series, organization of one workshop)

2017: Centre for Law and Society Research Theme Funding, ‘Remorse and Responsibility in the Constructions of the ‘Ideal’ Defendant: Comparing Cultural Expectations in Criminal Process (Cardiff September 2018) Funding of £4.5k

Reports

Early Intervention and Youth Justice in Italy and England and Wales (2005) , Research Report, Economic and Social Research Council.

Defence Lawyers in the French Criminal Process (1998), Research Report, Economic and Social Research Council.

(with Renaud COLSON) La fabrique des procédures pénales. Comparaison franco-anglaise des réformes de la justice répressive, Rapport, Mission de Recherche, Droit et Justice, novembre 2009 : http://www.gip-recherche-justice.fr/

Undergraduate

Evidence: lectures (module leader)

Postgraduate

Criminal Justice in Europe: lectures and seminars (module leader)

Post-School Education

1989, D.Phil. Jurisprudence, Oxford University (Thesis: Legal Forms, Legal Ideology and the Early Factory Inspectorate)

1981-4: ESRC quota award DPhil Scholarship in Socio-Legal Studies, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford

1981, M Phil. Criminology, Cambridge University

1980, BA (Hons) Jurisprudence, Oxford University

External appointments, Visiting Lectureships etc.

Visiting Lecturer, Willem Pömpe Institute for Criminal Justice, University of Utrecht, Netherlands, 1992 and Buchmann Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1998/99
Professeur Invité, Universities of Amiens (2000-), Nantes (2005 and 2009) and Rennes (2015)
Invited Lecturer on programme of continuing education for French judges, Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature, France 2008-2010
External examiner, Strathclyde University Law School 2008-2011 and 2015-2019, City University Law School 2012-2016 and Warwick Law School 2015-2019

Honours and awards

Grants

1995 British Council Know How Fund for Bulgaria: £6,750 (Teaching Programme for Bulgarian Judges).

1995/6 University of Wales Collaboration Fund: £2,500.

Organisation and co-ordination of international group of scholars working on comparative perspectives on covert and proactive policing, securing financing from University of Wales Collaboration Fund for seminars in Grygnog (Wales) and Maastricht (Netherlands) and leading to edited collection published by Dartmouth

1996 Economic and Social Research Council £79,825

ESRC grant for project `Defence Lawyers in the French Criminal Process’. Lead investigator spending a year collecting empirical research

2001: Economic and Social Research Council £72, 128

ESRC grant for project `Early Intervention and Youth Justice in England and Wales and Italy' (with M Drakeford formerly SOCSI and D Nelken now King's College London. Lead investigator supervising gathering of empirical material (interviews and case-files)

2008: British Academy, £11,507

Host sponsor to enable Dr Renaud Colson (University of Nantes) to come to Cardiff to work together on ‘Fair Trial and Managerialism in Criminal Justice: an Anglo-French study in comparative law’ under BA Visiting Fellowship Award.

2011: Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellowship, £40, 360

6 month Fellowship for project: Making sense of youth justice: a comparative study of Italy and Wales.

2016: Cardiff Incoming Visiting Fellows Scheme & International Collaboration Seedcorn Fund, £5,000 (research collaboration with Dr Renaud Colson)

2016: Conseil national des recherches scientifiques (France), Harmonizing European Criminal Justice Systems : values, drivers and limits, 18k euros, (with Dr Renaud Colson), submitted awaiting reply

Professional memberships

Socio-Legal Studies Association

Society of Legal Scholars

British Society of Criminology

European Society of Criminology

Academic positions

2013- Professor

2010-2013 Reader

2001-2010 Senior Lecturer, University of Cardiff

1984-2001 Lecturer (University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, then University of Cardiff

Committees and reviewing

Director, Centre for Crime, Law and Justice 2014-

Co-Director, French Academic Exchanges and Erasmus Co-ordinator for exchange links with Nantes University and University Jules Verne Picardy in Amiens, 2013-

Executive Committee member, Centre for Law and Society 2015-

Member, Senior Management Group, Cardiff Law School 2013-2015

Director, People and Environment, Cardiff Law School 2013-2015

Member School Board, Cardiff Law School 2013-2015

Chair, Student Mobility Review Group 2013-2015

International Representative, Cardiff Law School within AHSS College 2013-2015

Chair, Integrated Board of Examiners 2013-2015

Deputy Director, Cardiff Centre for Crime, Law and Justice 2009-2014

Chair, Law and Languages Board of Examiners 2004-2013

Director, French Academic Exchanges and Erasmus Co-ordinator for exchange Links with France 1994-2013 (intake 26 yearly, five French Erasmus partners: Nantes, Amiens, Toulouse, Rennes, Poitiers)

Director, Law and French degree programme (yearly intake 24-26) 1994-2013

Chair, Law and Languages Sub-Committee 2002-2013

Member University Erasmus Coordinators Group and Strategy Review Sub-group 2010-2011

Member, Working Group on Postgraduate Research and Study Skills module 2009-2010

Director LLM European Legal Studies, 2006-2008

Member, Assessment Sub-Committee, Board of Undergraduate Studies, 2005-7

Member, Working Group LLM Reforms 2004-5

Member, Working Group, LLM European Legal Studies Reforms 2004-5

Elected Member, Law School Board 2004-2005

Member Curriculum Review Working Group 2002-2003
Member Integrated Degrees Board of Studies (converted to Law and Languages Sub-Committee) 1992-2002
Member, Teaching and Learning Quality Committee (previously Educational Development Panel) 1999-2002
Member, Study Leave Committee 2000-2002
Member, Educational Development Panel Sub-Committee on Assessment, 2000-2001
Member Steering Group, Centre for Crime, Law and Justice 1998-2001
Research Co-ordinator, Centre for Crime, Law and Justice, 1999-2000
Member, Law School Culture Working Group 1999-2000
Buildings Committee 1995-1996
Teaching Committee 1992-1995
Law Library Committee 1992-1993
Student Progress Monitoring Committee 1990-1993
Senate 1989-1991
Faculty Board 1988-1991
Academic Secretary to Law School and Board of Studies 1988-1991
SCR Committee 1985-1988
Staff Student Panel 1985-1987

I am interested in supervising students in the area of criminal justice and youth justice particularly in a compartive context

Contact Details

FieldSA@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 29208 74363
Law Building, Room 1.04, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3AX

Remorse and responsibility in the criminal justice system

External profiles

ORCID

Professor Stewart Field

Overview

Publication

2025

2024

2023

2022

2019

2018

2017

2016