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Biography

Dr. Lawrence’s research focuses on criminal law and evidence, with particular attention to cases involving mental disorder and substance use.

Her work has been published in leading law and criminology journals, including the Canadian Bar Review, Canadian Criminal Law Review, Criminal Law Quarterly and Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice. She is on the editorial team for Canada’s first open-access casebook on criminal law, titled Criminal Law: Canadian Law, Indigenous Laws & Critical Perspectives. In addition, she is a primary contributor, with Gerry Ferguson and Michael Dambrot, to Canadian Criminal Jury Instructions.

Dr. Lawrence previously practiced law as a partner at a national law firm. She currently holds appointments as an Alternate Chair of the B.C. Review Board, Senior Associate of the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform, and Associate Fellow of the University of London’s Institute for Advanced Legal Studies.

Dr. Lawrence holds graduate degrees in law and criminology, including a LLM from the University of Cambridge and PhD (Criminology) from Simon Fraser University. She completed her doctoral work as a Trudeau Scholar.

Education

• BA (Scholar's Elective), Western University;
• JD, Ó£»¨Ó°ÊÓ;
• LLM, University of Cambridge;
• MA (Criminology), Simon Fraser University;
• PhD (Criminology), Simon Fraser University

Selected publications

• “Self-induced Extreme Intoxication: Brown and Section 33.1 of the Criminal Code” (2024) 115 SCLR 259.
• “A Canadian Perspective” in M. van der Wolf, ed, Safeguarding the Quality of Forensic Assessment in Sentencing: A Review Across Western Nations (London, UK: Routledge, 2022) (with D. Morgan). 
• “Similar Fact Evidence & Crime Linkage Analysis: In Search of an Empirical Foundation to Support the Identity Inference” (2019) 24 Cdn Crim LR 5.
• “From Defect to Dangerous: Has the Door Opened for Recognition of an Addition-based Defence in Canadian Criminal Law?” (2017) 59:4 Cdn J Crim & CJ 572.
• “Drug-Induced Psychosis: Overlooked Obiter Dicta in Bouchard-Lebrun” (2016) 32 CR (7th) 151. 
• “Blurred Lines of Intoxication & Insanity: An Examination of the Treatment at Law of Accused Persons Found to have Committed Criminal Acts while in States of Substance-Associated Psychosis, where Intoxication was Voluntary” (2016) 93 Cdn Bar Rev. 1 (with S. N. Verdun-Jones).
• “Delusions of Justice: Results of Qualitative Research on the Management in British Columbia of Cases Involving Allegations of Substance-Induced Psychosis” (2015) 14 Crim LQ 499 (with S.N. Verdun-Jones).
• “The Charter Right to Refuse Psychiatric Treatment” (2013) 46 UBC LR 489 (with S. N. Verdun-Jones).

Selected books

• Criminal Law: Canadian Law, Indigenous Laws & Critical Perspectives (Ottawa, ON: Canadian Legal Information Institute) 2023 CanLIIDocs 316 (with B. Perrin, D. Milward and M. McCallum).
• Canadian Criminal Jury Instructions, 2024 update (Vancouver, BC: Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia) (with G. Ferguson and M. Dambrot).

Courses

• Law 102: Criminal Law Process
• Law 106: Legal Process 
• Law 302: Criminial Law II 
• Law 304: Criminal Law Term 
• Law 305: Law, Theory & Practices of Sentencing - 
• Law 309: Law of Evidence 
• Law 343: ACE Innovation Lab

Graduate supervision

Dr. Lawrence is interested in supervising graduate studies working on criminal law (with focus on cases involving mental disorder & substance use) and access to justice (with focus on vulnerable populations).