Staff Profile

Biography

Dr Elizabeth McClory-Tiarks joined Newcastle Law School in September 2025 as a Lecturer in Criminal Justice. She has particular expertise in the use of AI in policing and the wider criminal justice system. Elizabeth previously worked as a barrister specialising in criminal and regulatory law and she is currently an academic member of New Park Court Chambers in Newcastle.

Elizabeth is a co-investigator on the PROBabLE Futures project, a 4-year £3.4m RAI-funded Keystone Project exploring the use of AI in the criminal justice system. She is leading on the development of two mock trials (one in England and one in Scotland), exploring the impact of AI on criminal trials.

Qualifications

PhD in Law and Applied Social Sciences (Durham University)

MA in Philosophy, distinction (Durham University)

Bar Vocational Course (Inns of Court School of Law)

Common Professional Examination (Northumbria University)

BA(Hons) in Philosophy, 2:1 (Durham University)

Roles and Responsibilities

Senior Tutor for Stage 2

Elizabeth's research has explored a number of areas relating to criminal justice and technology law, including:

• Police use of LLMs and risks to case progression
• Mapping the use of AI in Criminal Justice in England and Wales
• AI in sentencing
• Community participation in data ethics committees
• Decision-making processes in restorative justice and empowerment of lay participants
• Legal issues relating to Global Navigation Satellite Systems
• Restorative justice as a conflict resolution mechanism for long duration human spaceflight activities

Criminal Law

Law and Gender

Elizabeth previously worked at Aberdeen University and Northumbria University where she taught a range of modules including Space Law, Cyber Law, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law and Theories of Punishment.

• Articles

  • Calder, M, McClory-Tiarks, E, Taka, E, Sevegnani, M, Oswald, M. Responsible AI in criminal justice: LLMs in policing and risks to case progression. Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles 2026. Submitted.
  • Calder, M, Kotsoglou, K, Lawal, T, McClory-Tiarks, E, Sevegnani, M, Taka, E, Oswald, M. Mapping the Probabilistic AI Ecosystem in Criminal Justice in England and Wales. 2026. In Preparation.
  • Gill, G, Maher, M, McClory-Tiarks, E, Oswald, M, Paterson-Young, C. Enhancing ethical oversight: overcoming epistemic injustice to promote community representation in police oversight ethics committees. Criminology 2026. Submitted.
  • Tiarks, Elizabeth. Report on Artificial Intelligence and the Administration of Justice in the United Kingdom. eRevue internationale de droit pénal 2023.
  • Tiarks, Elizabeth. The impact of algorithms on legitimacy in sentencing. Journal of Law, Technology and Trust 2021.
  • Tiarks, Elizabeth. Interplanetary spaceflight and restorative justice. ROOM 2020.
  • Tiarks, Elizabeth. Restorative Justice, Consistency and Proportionality: Examining the Trade-off. Criminal Justice Ethics 2019.
  • Tiarks, Elizabeth. Restorative Justice and the Problem of Incoherence in Sentencing. Verifiche: rivista di sceinze umane 2019.

• Book Chapter

  • Tiarks, Elizabeth. Legal Regulation of Satellite Navigation Systems. In: Failat, Yanal Abul and Ferreira-Synman, Anel, ed. Outer Space Law. Globe Law and Business, 2022.

• Reports

  • Oswald, M, Paterson-Young, C, McBride, P, Maher, M, Calder, M, Gill, G, Tiarks, E, Noble, W. Ethical review to support Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) in policing: A preliminary study of West Midlands Police's specialist data ethics review committee. 2024.
  • Calder, M, Kotsoglou, K, Maher, M, McCartney, C, McClory-Tiarks, E, Montague, K, Oswald, M, Paterson-Young, C, Powell, R. College of Policing Data Ethics and Data-Driven Technologies APP Consultation: Response on behalf of ‘PROBabLE Futures: Probabilistic AI Systems in Law Enforcement Futures’. 2024. Submitted.