Dr Michael Naughton is a leading scholar and activist in the innocence movement who has received numerous awards and prizes for his research and wider activities relating to the wrongful conviction and imprisonment of innocent victims.
Dr Naughton is the Founder and Director of Empowering the innocent (ETI), a research project aimed at criminal justice reform that gives voice to alleged innocent victims of false allegations and wrongful convictions to amplify their claims of innocence and strengthen their struggles for truth and justice.
Between 2005-2015, Dr Naughton was Founder and Director of the first innocence project in the UK dedicated to investigating alleged wrongful convictions, the University of Bristol Innocence Project (UoBIP). This saw him spearhead the introduction of a new form of clinical legal education in the UK based on the innocence projects that originated in the United States. Under his supervision, student volunteers investigated alleged wrongful convictions on a pro bono basis, with input from criminal appeal lawyers and forensic experts where appropriate.
Between 2004-2015, Dr Naughton was Founder and Director of Innocence Network UK (INUK), which saw him facilitate the setting up, and support the subsequent running, of a national network with a total of 36 Innocence Projects in the UK dedicated to investigating and overturning wrongful convictions. This included an innocence project in a corporate law firm, which was also a global first.
Dr Naughton has been interviewed widely in national newspapers and for television and radio programmes on his work and a range of criminal justice issues. This includes The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, BBC 1, BBC Panorama, BBC Rough Justice, BBC News 24, ITV, GMTV, HTV, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC World Service, as well as a range of podcasts and international newspapers and radio and television programmes in Norway, Armenia, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland (click here for details).
Dr Naughton has also been invited to consult with Members of Parliament, Parliamentary Committees and criminal justice system policy makers, both domestically and internationally, and to give presentations on his research and innocence work to a host of other specialist conferences and events. This includes giving invited written and oral evidence on his research to the UK Parliamentary Justice Committee, two invited presentations in the UK House of Commons, an invited presentation to the US. Department of Justice in Washington D.C., as well as several other invited consultations and conference papers in the United States, China, Armenia, Italy, Norway, Canada, and several in Ireland (click here for further details).
These activities have contributed to several major reforms at home and abroad, including reforms to the prison rules on the treatment of prisoners maintaining innocence and reform of the Attorney General’s guidelines on disclosure and access to evidence post-conviction for alleged victims of wrongful convictions who seek to mount an appeal or make an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). He influenced the Bill for a new right of appeal for alleged victims of wrongful convictions in South Australia. And, he contributed to the consultation for the establishment of a Canadian Criminal Cases Review Commission (click here and here for further details).
This website is a platform for Dr Naughton’s work and to provide access to his publications, which include 4 sole authored or edited books and over 80 additional peer reviewed academic articles, book chapters and other publications, which are listed by year of publication.
Click here for information on how to contact Dr Naughton.
Click here for Dr Naughton’s academic CV
Important note: Any views expressed on this website do not represent those of Michael Naughton’s employer.