Crown Court clerks and women offenders:Examining and disseminating marginalised perspectives on the criminal justice system through oral history

这项奖学金为巩固和传播我的博士研究提供了一个令人兴奋的机会。它还使我能够制定一个新的研究项目，它将建立在我的兴趣、知识和经验的基础上。该奖学金有三个主要目标。首先，这将有助于发展我作为一名学术研究人员的事业和技能。为此，奖学金将为我提供时间和资源，以撰写与我的博士研究相关的出版物；扩展我的分析和写作技能；并与具有类似研究兴趣的导师合作，并向他学习。第二，在整个奖学金期间，我将向广泛的学术和非学术受众传播我的研究成果。必须强调的是，我的博士项目具有很高的原创性，因为它确定并帮助填补了学术文献中关于被忽视的关键法律行为者的角色和职能的一个显着缺失，即刑事法院书记员。该领域的大多数材料倾向于关注参与审判的精英参与者的观点，如法官、律师和律师。令人惊讶的是，尽管刑事法院书记员在谋杀、强奸和入室盗窃等最严重刑事犯罪的审判中发挥了关键作用，但关于这些犯罪的文章却很少。我的研究还发现了以前不为人知的关于1972年司法制度激进改革及其对法院系统的长期影响的描述。20世纪70年代向现代刑事法院制度的转变代表着我们的法律制度发生了数百年来最根本的变化。在学院内，我将在伦敦政治经济学院法律传记项目(LBP)主办的活动上发表我的博士发现。我还将在伦敦大学高级研究学院历史研究所和口述历史学会联合举办的一系列研讨会上分享和辩论我的工作。此外，我计划与牛津大学沃尔夫森学院牛津生活写作中心和女权主义法律历史学家兼传记作家罗斯玛丽·奥赫穆蒂教授共同制作一个关于法律生活写作的工作坊，在那里我们将介绍我们对法律传记的不同方法和解释方式。在研究界之外，我将与国家司法博物馆(NJM)合作，丰富他们的法律教育和公共参与计划。我将为NJM的工作人员和志愿者提供与我的博士发现相关的不同主题的专业发展培训。其中包括：刑事法院书记官的关键作用和职能及其在过去45年中的主要工作变化；1972年司法行政的根本改革及其对法院系统的长期影响；以及口述历史实践。我将通过为学生设计专门针对刑事法院书记员主要职责的活动来扩展和丰富现有的NJM法庭工作坊方案。每年有25,000多名中小学生(7-18岁)在全国各地的法院参加这些讲习班。我还将为NJM网站创建一个教育资源，供教师下载，内容是关于刑事法院书记官对司法系统的重要贡献。第三，该奖学金将为我提供机会，继续我对口述历史和刑事司法系统中非精英、边缘化和少数群体声音的研究兴趣。我将为一个以口述历史和女性罪犯为重点的社会法律研究项目制定一项资助提案。这一学术领域建立在我在硕士级别进行的研究基础上，这些研究与以道德、赋权和避免再次创伤的方式讲述艰难和创伤的生活故事有关。

This fellowship offers an exciting opportunity to consolidate and disseminate my PhD research. It alsoallows me to formulate a new research project which will build upon my interests, knowledge andexperience. There are three primary aims of the fellowship. Firstly, it will help to develop my career andskills as an academic researcher. To this end, the fellowship will provide me with the time andresources to produce a publication related to my PhD research; extend my analytic and writing skills;and work alongside, and learn from a mentor with similar research interests.Secondly, throughout the fellowship I will disseminate my research findings to a wide range of academicand non-academic audiences. It is important to highlight that my doctoral project was highly original inthat it identified and helped to fill a notable absence in the academic literature about the role andfunction of a critical legal actor who has been much neglected, namely the Crown Court clerk. Mostmaterial in the field tends to focus on the perspectives of elite participants in the trial such as judges,barristers and solicitors. It is surprising that although the Crown Court clerk plays a pivotal role in trialsof the most serious criminal offences such as murder, rape and burglary, very little has been writtenabout them. My research has also uncovered previously untold accounts about radical reform to theadministration of justice in 1972, and its long-term impact upon the courts system. The shift towards amodern system of Crown Courts in the 1970s represented the most fundamental change to our legalsystem to have occurred in centuries.Within the academy, I will deliver a presentation of my PhD findings at an event hosted by the LegalBiography Project (LBP) at the LSE. I will also share and debate my work as part of a seminar seriesco-convened by the Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study University of London,and the Oral History Society. In addition, I plan to co-produce a workshop on legal life writing with theOxford Centre for Life Writing, Wolfson College, University of Oxford, and feminist legal historian andbiographer, Professor Rosemary Auchmuty, where we will present our different methodological andinterpretive approaches to legal biography.Beyond the research community, I will collaborate with the National Justice Museum (NJM) and enrichtheir legal education and public engagement programmes. I will deliver professional developmenttraining to NJM staff and volunteers on different subjects related to my PhD findings. These include: thepivotal role and function of the Crown Court clerk and key changes to their work over the past 45 years;fundamental reform to the administration of justice in 1972 and its long-term impact upon the courtssystem; and oral history practice. I will extend and enrich the existing NJM Courtroom WorkshopsProgramme by designing activities for pupils that are specific to the Crown Court clerk's keyresponsibilities. More than 25,000 primary and secondary school pupils (7-18 year olds) participate inthese workshops in courts around the country each year. I will also create an educational resource forthe NJM website for teachers to download concerning the Crown Court clerk's important contribution tothe administration of justice system.Thirdly, the fellowship will provide me with the opportunity to pursue my research interests in oral historyand non-elite, marginalized and minority voices in the criminal justice system. I will develop a fundingproposal for a socio-legal research project that focuses on oral history and women offenders. This areaof scholarship builds upon research I have carried out at MA level related to telling difficult andtraumatic life stories in ways that are ethical, empowering and avoid re-traumatisation.