Criminal Law: IALS Library Guides

Guide last updated by Katherine Read, November 2023

This guide aims to give a brief introduction to the Library's holdings on Criminal Law. Please consult the Library Catalogue for complete information on current titles and locations. If you require further assistance please contact us.

Monday-Friday 9:30-17:00
Tel (0)20 7862 5790
Email ials@sas.ac.uk

This Subject Guide only lists a selection of Library resources on Criminal Law. To find additional resources you will need to search the Library Catalogue, which covers the complete holdings of the Library. It is possible to search for books, journals and series of law reports by author, title or keyword. Please note it is not possible to search for individual chapters, journal articles or legislation (e.g. individual Acts or SIs).

IALS Library is mainly open access and readers are able to browse the shelves in the main collection. There are two main exceptions to this:

• Older items (marked RES or Depository on the catalogue record) are kept in the closed basement.
• Key texts for LLM students are often kept in the Short Loan collection.

Please request these at the Library Enquiries Desk on the 2nd Floor.

For more information on understanding the catalogue record and further guidance on the location of materials please refer to our guide Classmarks and the Location of Resources in the Library.

The Library classifies textbooks either by jurisdiction (GO13, GA2 etc.) or according to subject area, examples of which include Comparative Law (SB), Public International Law (SG) and Private International Law/ Conflict of Laws (SH). . All classmark sections have a FOL section for oversize volumes, which is located on the same floor of the Library.

When you are searching the Library Catalogue for books, please note that only the current edition is held on the open shelves or in the Short Loan collection. IALS has a rich collection of previous editions held in the closed basement and these will display a Depository number on the catalogue. Please request previous editions from the Enquiries Desk on the 2nd floor.  

Criminal Law material for England & Wales is shelved at GA2.D.4
European Union Criminal Law material is shelved at GO1.A1.D.4
Comparative Criminal Law material is shelved at SB30
International Criminal Law and Extradition material is shelved at SG95

The following list represents a selection of textbooks on criminal law. Please check the catalogue records for further information and location.   Titles marked as e-books may also be available in print. Access from home requires your IALS library barcode and your  family name.  E books with 'open access' status on the catalogue are available to all users of this guide. 

Aksenova, M. and others  Breaking the cycle of mass atrocities: criminological and socio-legal approaches in international criminal law  2019

Archbold, J.  Archbold: Criminal pleading, evidence and practice 2025  2024 Thomson Reuters 

Ashworth, A. & Campbell, L.   The criminal process   5th ed. 2019

Bassiouni, M.  International criminal law  3 vols. 3rd ed. 2008

Blackbourn, J. Accountability and review in the counter-terrorist state  2020

Bogg, A. and others  Criminality at work   2020 OUP  (e-book)

Cassese, A.  International criminal law   3rd ed. 2013

Cassese, A.  The Rome statute of the international criminal court    2002

Child, J.  Simester and Sullivan's criminal law: theory and doctrine  8th ed. 2022

Cryer, R.  An introduction to international criminal law and procedure  4th ed. 2019

Dyson, M.   Blackstone's statutes on criminal law  32nd ed. 2022

Dennis, I.  Law of evidence  8th ed. 2024

Heller, K. and others Oxford handbook of international criminal law   2020 OUP   (e-book) 

Horder, J. Ashworth's principles of criminal law  10th ed. 2022

Liebling, A. et al.  Oxford handbook of criminology   7th ed. 2023

Ormerod, D.  Smith, Hogan and Ormerod's criminal law  17th ed. 2024

Rigney, S. Fairness and rights in international criminal procedure  Edinburgh University Press 2022 (e-book)

Schabas, W. Introduction to the international criminal court  6th ed. CUP  2020 (e-book)

Stahn, C.   A critical introduction to international criminal law  CUP 2019 (e-book open access)

Stahn, C.  & Braga da Silva, R.  The international criminal court in its third decade: Reflecting on law and practices Brill Nijhoff 2024 (e-book)

Wieczorek, I. The legitimacy of EU criminal law   2020 Bloomsbury (e-book)

Zander, M.  The Police and Criminal Evidence Act   9th ed.  2023 S & M  (e-book)

Zander, M.  Cases and materials on the English legal system 2007

IALS Library holds a wide selection of current serial titles on criminal law. from many different jurisdictions. These are located on all floors of the Library. Some titles are only in printed volumes while others are also available in e-format.  For more detailed help, please refer to the guide on Finding journal articles. The following titles focus particularly on criminal law. but there may be relevant articles in less specialised journals.

American criminal law review   Open Access 

American journal of criminal law  E-Journal

British journal of criminology E-Journal

Canadian journal of criminology and criminal justice E-Journal

Criminal law bulletin  E-Journal

Criminal law forum  E-Journal

Criminal law journal

Criminal law quarterly

Criminal law review  E-Journal

Current  issues in criminal justice  E-Journal

Howard journal of criminal justice  E-Journal

Journal of criminal law   E-Journal

Journal of criminal law and criminology  Open Access  

Journal of international criminal justice  E-Journal

Revue de science criminelle et de droit pénal comparé

Rivista italiana di diritto e procedura penale

South African journal of criminal justice  E-Journal

Western criminology review   E-Journal

If you are interested in legislation or cases concerning criminal law. issues in specific countries you will need to consult the legislation or law reports for that jurisdiction.

Consult the Library Catalogue to find the general classmark for the country you require. Consult consolidations of legislation, digests or indexes to trace particular acts or cases.

Academic users may also use databases like Lexis/Westlaw to find UK, US, EU or international decisions. For further information please refer to Law Databases  or ask at the Library Enquiry Desk.

Please refer to the serials section of this guide to find relevant law report series.

You may also find it useful to refer to our guides on finding Legislation and Cases or check to see if we have a Jurisdiction Research Guide for the country you are interested in.

Eagle-i is an internet portal maintained and updated by IALS library staff. It allows you to search for quality web resources on criminal law.

The following represent a sample of the available quality individual web resources on criminal law.

 

ASIL international electronic resource guide: international humanitarian law

www.asil.org/sites/default/files/ERG_International%20Humanitarian%20Law%20%28test%29.pdf

Criminal Cases Review Commission (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

https://ccrc.gov.uk/

Crown Prosecution Service (England and Wales)

www.cps.gov.uk/about/cjs.html

Lyonette Louis-Jacques 'Comparative Criminal Procedure: A Select Bibliography'. Updated May/June 2021 (Globalex)

www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Comparative_Criminal_Procedure1.htm