Research is central to Liverpool Hope’s strategic plan and members of the School of Law and Criminology are actively engaged in research and publishing with internationally renowned publishers.
Below are our Law Academics Research Profiles, detailing their areas of research expertise, priorities as a research community, as well as scholarly interests and passions.
Dr Omar Mashjari, Associate Professor of Law
Education: PhD (University of Leeds); PGCert Learning and Teaching (University of Westminster); LL.M (University of Law, Manchester); LL.B (Hons), First Class (University of Liverpool).
Research areas: International Competition Law; Legal Education, Company and Commercial Law
Supervisory areas: International and European Competition Law; Company and Commercial Law
Contact:
e: mashjao@hope.ac.uk
Dr Debbie Kobani
Dr Debbie Kobani is a Lecturer in Law in the School of Law and Criminology.
Dr Kobani joined Liverpool Hope University in October 2021. Prior to this appointment, she was an Associate Lecturer in Aberystwyth University Law Department, where she recently completed her PhD on ‘A Legal Framework for Host Community Participation in the Oil and Gas Industry of Nigeria’. She is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).
Education: Abia State University, Nigeria, BSc in Chemistry and Education; Aberystwyth University, LLB (Hons); Aberystwyth University, LLM in International Commercial Law and the Environment; Aberystwyth University, PhD
Research areas: Debbie's research lies broadly in the interface between environmental regulation and international law. She explores international environmental law and policy, with interests in public participation and participatory frameworks, environmental regulation and enforcement, corporate social responsibility, International human rights, and environmental justice.
Supervisory areas: International Law; International Environmental Law; International Human Rights Law
Recent publications:
- Kobani, D. A. (2021) A Legal Framework for Host Community Participation in the Oil and Gas Industry of Nigeria. PhD. Thesis, Aberystwyth University
Contact:
e: kobanid@hope.ac.uk
Dr Onyeka Okongwu
Dr Okongwu joined the School of Law at Liverpool Hope University in 2018 as a Lecturer. She holds a PhD in Equality and Discrimination Law from De Montfort University Leicester and an LLM in International Commercial Law from the University of Leicester, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). Dr Okongwu also holds positions as a licensed Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Prior to joining Hope, Dr Okongwu held academic positions with the University of Chester and serves as a Law Faculty member of the UNICAF University Cyprus. Her experience in legal practice comes from having worked with an organisation in Chester as a Discrimination Adviser and Caseworker where she was responsible for a varied employment caseload ranging from unfair dismissal cases to discrimination at work. Dr Okongwu has represented clients at the Employment Tribunals and was involved in negotiating settlements between clients and their employers either directly or through ACAS or their solicitors. Dr Okongwu has gone on to author a number of publications around her primary area of interests, namely equality and discrimination focusing on the influence of culture, religion and social norms on gender issues and sex discrimination.
Education: University of Leicester, LLM in International Commercial Law; De Montfort University Leicester, PhD in Equality and Discrimination Law
Research areas: Equality and Discrimination Law specifically focusing on sex discrimination and gender inequality; and Employment Law
Supervisory areas: area of Equality Law (sex discrimination and gender equality; race discrimination, religious discrimination and disability discrimination) and in the field of Employment Law
Recent publications:
- Okongwu, O. (forthcoming 2023) Sexual Harassment Laws in Nigeria: Lessons from the United Kingdom. African Journal of International and Comparative Law
- Okongwu, O. (2021) Are Laws the Appropriate Solution: The Need to Adopt Non-policy Measures in Aid of the Implementation of Sex Discrimination Laws in Nigeria. International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 21(1), pp.26-46
Contact:
e: okongwo@hope.ac.uk
Dr Grant Firkins
Dr Grant Firkins is a Lecturer in Law in the School of Law and Criminology.
Prior to joining Liverpool Hope University in March 2023, Dr Firkins completed an LLB (Hons) at the University of Liverpool and worked in legal practice before graduating from the University of Birmingham with an LLM in Criminal Law. Dr Firkins was then subsequently awarded a PhD from the University of Liverpool, where he was also a Graduate Teaching Assistant in Law.
Dr Firkins’ current research interests are in criminal law theory and doctrine; specifically, causation and its relationship with criminal responsibility in English criminal law.
Education: University of Liverpool, LLB (Hons); University of Birmingham, LLM in Criminal Law; University of Liverpool, PhD
Research areas: Criminal Law
Supervisory areas: Criminal Law; Criminal Evidence
Publications:
- Firkins, G. (2023) Rethinking Causation in English Criminal Law. Journal of Criminal Law, 87(1), pp.18-38
Contact:
e: firking@hope.ac.uk
Research is central to Liverpool Hope’s strategic plan and members of the School of Law and Criminology are actively engaged in research and publishing with internationally renowned publishers.
Below are our Criminology Academics Research Profiles, detailing their areas of research expertise, priorities as a research community, as well as scholarly interests and passions.
Dr Sebastian Cutrona
Dr. Sebastian A. Cutrona is Senior Lecturer in Criminology. He earned his Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of Miami. His work has been published in Trends in Organized Crime, the International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, and Crime, Law and Social Change, among others. His most recent book is Mano Dura Policies in Latin America, which was published by Routledge in 2023. Dr. Cutrona has taught drug trafficking, organised crime, and Latin American politics at O.P. Jindal Global University (India), Universidad de San Andrés (Argentina), and the University of Miami (United States). His research interests mainly consist in organised crime, drugs, and Latin American politics.
Education: Universidad Nacional de La Rioja (BA Hons), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (MA), University of Miami (PhD)
Research areas: organised crime, drugs, Latin American politics
Supervisory areas: organised crime, gangs, drugs, drug policy, policing
Recent publications:
- Jonathan Rosen and Sebastián Cutrona eds. (2023). Mano Dura Policies in Latin America. New York: Routledge.
- Jonathan D. Rosen, Roberto Zepeda, Sebastián Cutrona, and Richard Huizar (2023). “The Cycle of Mano Dura Policies: The Militarization of the Drug War in Mexico.” In Jonathan Rosen and Sebastián Cutrona eds., Mano Dura Policies in Latin America. New York: Routledge.
- Sebastián Cutrona (2022). Drogas, Política y Actores Sociales en la Argentina Democrática. Buenos Aires: Editorial Universitaria de Buenos Aires (EUDEBA).
- Jonathan Rosen, Sebastián Cutrona and Katy Lindquist (2022). “Gangs, Violence, and Fear: Punitive Darwinism in El Salvador,” Crime, Law and Social Change, 79, 175-194.
- Sebastián Cutrona, Jonathan Rosen and Katy Lindquist (2022). “Not Just Money. How Organized Crime, Violence, and Insecurity are Shaping Emigration in Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala,” International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice.
- Jonathan Rosen and Sebastián Cutrona (2020). “Understanding Support for Mano Dura Strategies: Lessons from Brazil and Colombia,” Trends in Organized Crime, 24 (3), 324-342.
ORCID: 0000-0002-9871-6378
Contact:
e: cutrons@hope.ac.uk
Dr Melanie Flynn
Dr Melanie Flynn is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Law and Criminology. Prior to joining Liverpool Hope University in September 2023 she had worked as a senior lecturer at the University of Huddersfield, a research fellow at UCL, and a crime analyst with Sussex Police. Her research interests are in the field of green criminology, particularly nonhuman animal-related harm, animal victimology, and vegan criminology. She also has many years of professional and academic experience in crime prevention, opportunity theories, spatial crime concentrations, analysis, evaluation, and evidence-based policing. Melanie gained her PhD in Criminology from UCL in 2018 for a thesis entitled 'Reconceptualising risky facilities: exploring identification, patterns and features using a mixed-methods approach'.
Melanie holds Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) status and is a member of the Vegan Society Research Advisory Committee, the British Society of Criminology (and green criminology network), and the European Society of Criminology. Melanie has previously acted-up as Head of Division of Criminology (University of Huddersfield), and she has mentored staff undertaking their first academic or leadership role. She also previously held the position of Deputy Director of the Applied Criminology and Policing Research Centre (Huddersfield). Melanie is also an experienced postgraduate supervisor, with successful completions at Masters and doctoral level.
Education: University of Derby, 1998, LLB (Hons) Law; University of Loughborough, 1999, MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice; University College London, 2023, PGCert Crime Prevention; University of Huddersfield, 2009, PGDip Professional Development (Higher Education Practice); University College London, 2018, PhD Criminology.
Research areas: green criminology; nonhuman animal harm/crime; nonhuman animal victimology; forest crime; prevention, enforcement, and sentencing of environmental and animal crime; opportunity theories and crime patterns; crime prevention; policing; crime analysis.
Supervisory areas: green criminology; nonhuman animal victimology; evidence-based policing; crime analysis; criminal justice evaluation.
Recent publications:
- Flynn, M. (2024). Proposing a nonhuman animal victimology. In L. Levitt, D.B. Rosengard and J. Rubin. Eds. Animals as Crime Victims. Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Flynn, M. and Hall, M. (2017). The case for a victimology of nonhuman animal harms. Contemporary Justice Review, 20/3: 299-318.
Contact:
e: flynnm@hope.ac.uk
Dr Gavin Hart
Dr Gavin Hart is a Lecturer in Criminology. Prior to joining Liverpool Hope University in September 2021, Dr Hart worked as an academic skills tutor at the University of Huddersfield. He has completed undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Huddersfield where he also worked as a part-time lecturer in social sciences. Dr Hart’s doctoral research project, explores racism and hate-crime in Northern Ireland during a period of increasing societal diversity.
Dr Hart’s research interests lie primarily in the fields of extremism and hate crime. He is currently involved in research that delves into the Incel subculture and other forms of toxic misogyny in online spaces.
Education: University of Huddersfield (BA Politics, PhD, PGCHE)
Research areas: Extremism; Hate-crimes; Post-conflict reintegration; Misogyny.
Recent publications:
- Hart G. & Huber, A. (Scheduled 2023) ‘Five things we need to learn about Incel extremism: issues, challenges and avenues for fresh research’, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism
- Huber, A. Hart, G. & Littler, M. (Scheduled 2023). Gateways to Hate: A quantitative exploration of the relationship between misogyny and the exhibition of far-right attitudinal traits in Great Britain in Kondor, K. & Littler, M. (eds). The Palgrave Handbook of Far-Right Extremism in Europe
- G, Huber, A. Littler, M. (Scheduled 2023). ‘‘Boys who hate girls, who hate boys, who hate girls’: A quantitative exploration of the relationship between misogyny, socio-political outlook, and support for violence in the UK.’ In Orofino, E., & Allchorn, W. (Eds.), (2022). Handbook of Non-Violent Extremism: Groups, Perspectives and New Debates. Routledge
- Hart, G., & Tamayo Gomez, C. (2022). Is recognition the answer? Exploring the barriers for successful reintegration of ex-combatants into civil society in Northern Ireland and Colombia. Peacebuilding, 1-17.
Contact:
e: hartg@hope.ac.uk
Dr Gilbert McLaughlin
Dr Gilbert McLaughlin joined Liverpool Hope University in 2022 as a Lecturer in Criminology. He completed his PhD in sociology and an MPhil in political thought at the University of Ottawa. His doctoral thesis is an analysis of the concept of "radicalization leading toward extremism". He completed his postdoctoral work at the Centre of Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa. Gilbert McLaughlin is also a member of the Canadian Network for research on terrorism, security and society (TSAS), and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Research on Citizenship and Minorities (CIRCEM). He is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Baxter-Ricard Foundation Fellowship and the O'Brian Foundation Fellowship.
Dr McLaughlin’s research interests lie primarily in the fields of crime and beliefs, radicalisation and quantitative methods.
Education: University of Moncton (BA Hons); Ottawa University (MA); Ottawa University
(PhD)
Research areas: radicalisation, political violence, crime and beliefs.
Supervisory areas: qualitative and quantitative methodologies, radicalisation, political violence, cybercrime.
Recent publications:
Articles published in refereed journals
- McLaughlin. Gilbert and Christian Robitaille (2021). Radicalization toward violent extremism: a typology based on a general theory of rationality, in Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression. Available here
- McLaughlin, Gilbert (2019). « Penser la radicalisation politique en France », Études internationales, volume 50, numéro 1, printemps 2019, p. 147–160. Available here. English title: 'Thinking about political radicalization in France'.
- McLaughlin. Gilbert (2016). « Entre commémoration et festivité : l’interprétation conflictuelle du Grand Dérangement chez l’élite acadienne », Acadiensis, Vol. 45, No. 2., pp. 27-48. English title: 'Between commemorations and festivity: the conflicting interpretation of the Great Upheaval among the Acadian elite'.
- McLaughlin, Gilbert et Christophe Traisnel (2015). « Le Up and down de Tracadie-Sheila, Nouveau-Brunswick. Un rituel automobile au cœur de la ville », Recherches sociographiques, Vol. 53, No. 2-3, p. 463-480. English title: 'The Up and down of
Tracadie-Sheila, New Brunswick. A car ritual in the heart of the city'.
Forthcoming
- McLaughlin, Gilbert. Toward the Categorization of Online Political Prejudices: the case of the New Brunswick 2020 provincial election, Journal of Canadian studies.
- McLaughlin, Gilbert and Véronique Chardillion. Online prejudice against political candidates: a quantitative study of the 2021 election in New Brunswick, Journal of Canadian Studies.
- McLaughlin, Gilbert. Radicalisation: A Conceptual Inquiry. Routledge. Will be available on the 13th of December here.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8607-4830
Contact: mclaugg@hope.ac.uk
Ms Lizzie Mansell
Lizzie joined the School of Law and Criminology full time as a Professional Tutor in Criminology in February 2023, having previously taught Level C Criminology on a sessional basis.
After graduating from the University of Sheffield with a BA(Hons) in French and Hispanic Studies, Lizzie completed a PGCE. She then studied at the University of York and completed an MA in Social Justice and Education, in which her dissertation explored teachers’ experiences of the counter extremism policy, PREVENT.
Lizzie is currently a PhD candidate at the University of York. Her research project focuses on educational responses to Incel extremism and extreme misogyny, with a view to developing interventions to address this issue.
In the academic year 2023/2024, Lizzie is Year Lead for the Criminology component of Foundations in Law and Criminology. She also supervises Dissertation/ Research Project students.
Education: The University of Sheffield, (BA Hons); The University of York (MA)
Research areas: Incel extremism, extreme misogyny, counter terrorism policy in education
Supervisory areas: counter terrorism policy
Contact:
e: mansell@hope.ac.uk
Dr Natalia Vibla
Dr Natalia Vibla is a Lecturer in Criminology at Liverpool Hope University. Her teaching and research interests fall within the areas international, comparative and global criminology.
Previously Natalia held research positions at the University of Cambridge, including working on two sentencing projects at the Institute of Criminology.
She also taught several criminology courses at Anglia Ruskin University. Prior to academia Natalia worked as an international development consultant on programmes in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and Central Asia.
Natalia holds Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and regularly presents at the British, European and American Societies of Criminology Conferences.
Natalia’s PhD project focused on sentencing decisions in multiple-offence cases drawing on data secured from the Swedish criminal, Supreme and Appellant Courts.
Education: PhD in Criminology (University of Cambridge), MSc in Research Methods (City, University of London), MA in International Relations (Lviv National University), BA International Relations (Lviv National University).
Research areas: (1) Punishment: theory and sentencing decisions; (2) International criminal justice: atrocity crimes; human rights; forcibly displaced youth, children and adults; (3) Applied criminal justice research: organizational and project performance and evaluation.
Supervisory areas: Sentencing and punishment; criminal justice institutions; international crime, transnational crime, criminal justice evaluation.
Recent publications:
- Seguin, M., Cavagnoud, R. Gianella, C., Khomych, T., Vibla, N. (Forthcoming) Stressors, mental health and coping amongst forcibly displaced youth since the advent of COVID-19. Youth and Society.
- Vibla, N. (2018) Towards a theoretical and practical model for multiple-offence sentencing. In Roberts, J., de Keijser, J. & Ryberg, J. Multiple offences at sentencing. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Contact:
e: viblan@hope.ac.uk
