Autism and Criminal Justice: The Experience of Suspects, Defendants and Offenders in England and Wales

Tom Smith is an Associate Professor in Law and a Head of the Global Security, Crime and Justice research group within the College of Business and Law, University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, UK. His research interests include remand, disclosure of evidence in criminal proceedings, criminal defence lawyers, criminal legal aid, court reporting and open justice, and neurodivergence within the criminal justice system. He has published widely on these and related subjects. He has undertaken various research activities with NGOs, charities and government bodies, including working on cross-jurisdictional projects related to criminal defence and a pretrial detention reform project in China; delivering training for the Judicial College and College of Policing on disclosure; and giving evidence to the Victorian Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants and various House of Commons Select Committee inquiries. He is the founder and joint coordinator of the Neurodivergence in Criminal Justice Network (NICJN), a research and knowledge exchange group seeking to promote evidence-led practice in criminal justice processes involving neurodivergent individuals, which brings together expertise from academia, practice and the community.