Ed Cape is Emeritus Professor of Criminal Law and Practice at the University of the West of England, Bristol.
A former criminal defence solicitor, he has a special interest in criminal justice, criminal procedure, police powers, defence lawyers and access to justice.
He is the author of a leading practitioner text, Defending Suspects at Police Stations (8th edn., LAG, 2020), co-authors a bi-annual police station law and practice update for the journal Legal Action, and also presents a bi-annual webinar on police station practice for criminal defence lawyers.
Ed has conducted research both in the UK and internationally, and his research publications include Evaluation of the Public Defender Service in England and Wales (LSC, 2007), Suspects in Europe: Procedural rights at the investigative stage of the criminal process in the European Union (Intersentia, 2007), Effective Criminal Defence in Europe (Intersentia, 2010), Inside Police Custody: An Empirical Account of Suspects’ Rights in Four Jurisdictions (Intersentia, 2014), The Practice of Pre-trial Detention in England and Wales: Research Report (UWE, 2015), and Inside police custody 2: An empirical study of suspects’ rights at the investigative stage of the criminal process in nine EU countries: Comparative Report (ICCL, 2018).
Other publications include book chapters on evidence, covert policing, and the role of criminal defence lawyers, and journal articles on a range of themes including the criminal defence profession, the regulation of police powers, police bail without charge, the retention and use of biometric data, and the right to silence. Ed has also worked with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on a number of projects, and was commissioned to write Early access to legal aid in criminal justice processes: a handbook for policymakers and practitioners published by the UN in 2014.
