Mr Michael Bromby

Research Fellow Joseph Bell Centre 

T: +44 (0) 141 331 8780
E: M.Bromby@gcal.ac.uk
Fax: +44 (0)141 331 3798 
Centre: http://www.cfslr.ed.ac.uk/

Blog: UKCLE - Digital Directions
Wiki: Caledonian Scholar

Conf: BILETA 2008
Second Life: Forensic Michalak

Director: Innocence Project
Academia.edu Page
LinkedIn Page

General introduction

Michael Bromby is employed as a research fellow with the Joseph Bell Centre for Forensic Statistics and Legal Reasoning. The Centre is based at the School of Law and the School of Mathematics at The University of Edinburgh the Law Department at Glasgow Caledonian University, and in association with the Lothian and Borders Police Forensic Laboratories.

Michael graduated from the University of Stirling with BSc (Hons) in Molecular and Cell Biology and subsequently from Edinburgh University with an LLM, specialising in Medical Jurisprudence, Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence & Legal Reasoning. He also holds a Diploma in Forensic Medical Sciences from The Society of Apothecaries and Glasgow University and is a member of the Institute of Educational Assessors. Prior to his current appointment, Michael was a technical consultant for a company specialising in police software solutions and facial composite systems.

As an Executive Member of the British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Association (www.bileta.ac.uk), Michael organised the 23rd Annual Conference at Glasgow Caledonian University. Michael also does work for the UK Centre for Legal Education (www.ukcle.ac.uk), the Higher Education Academy's Subject Centre for law, including their blog - Digital Directions.

Academic and scholarly interests

The Joseph Bell Centre is a multidisciplinary centre aims to investigate the correct evaluation, presentation and presentation of forensic evidence and the introduction and implementation of ‘best practice’ procedures within legal offices and police departments. The need for accuracy and improvement in this area has been highlighted by the recent media attention paid to DNA profiling and by the Royal Commission on Miscarriages of Justice. The Centre will also investigate statistically appropriate and legally valid processes, captured and described using artificial techniques, with the aim of preventing miscarriages of justice.

Michael’s main research areas lie in facial recognition; his LLM dissertation examined the reliability and accuracy of automatic facial recognition systems as a tool for identification via CCTV cameras, and his DipFMS dissertation concentrated on Expert Evidence in the UK. As a biochemist, he also carries an interest in DNA profiling, blood typing and other biological and forensic methods of identification for both civil and criminal systems.

Positions and responsibilities

  • Chair of the School's Research Ethics Group that oversees the ethical scrutiny of all research involving human participants by both staff and students within the school
  • Chair of the School's E-learning Group that reports to the Learning, Teaching and Quality Committee
  • Executive Member of the British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Association (BILETA)
  • Associate Editor of the International Review of Law, Computers and Technology, published by Taylor & Francis
  • Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Information Law and Technology (via BILETA)
  • Research Fellow with the Joseph Bell Centre for Forensic Statistics and Legal Reasoning at Edinburgh University
  • Guest Lecturer at the Unit for Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee
  • Member of the Academy Scotland Practitioners Forum, Higher Education Academy
  • Member of the British Association of Human Identification (BAHID), and previously secretary for the Forensic Image Analysis Group within the Association
  • Member of the Research Ethics Committee and the Glasgow Royal Infirmary (flagged as a specialist committee for Tissue Bank applications) and previously a National Auditor for COREC
  • Panel Member of the Children's Hearing System that considers and makes decisions on the welfare of the child or young person before them, including offending behaviour in place of the criminal court system in Scotland

Grants and funding

2001-2004: Joseph Bell Centre (for Forensic Statistics and Legal Reasoning) with Edinburgh University. £728,500
2005-08: Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Serendipity Ltd on biometric security. £76,167
2008-09: Strategic Investment & Development fund (internal) to set-up an Innocence Network UK Project. £3,000
2008-10: Caledonian Academy Scholar. £2,000