Professor Thomas is the country’s leading expert on juries and judges. In her work on juries she has pioneered the study of jury decision-making in the criminal courts in England & Wales, undertaking two vital studies into juries for the Ministry of Justice. Her first report, Diversity and Fairness in the Jury System (2007), was the first study conducted in this country on race and jury decision-making.
Her follow-up study, Are Juries Fair? (2010), tackled a number of sensitive and controversial issues about the fairness of jury decision-making and is the most extensive research into the jury system ever conducted in England and Wales. Her work on the professional judiciary includes the establishment in 2014 of the UK Judicial Attitude Survey, which is the only study of its kind to examine the working experiences of all professional judges throughout the United Kingdom.
Professor Dame Hazel Genn, Dean at UCL Laws said:
‘This is recognition of Cheryl’s contribution to the justice system, and in particular, her path-breaking work on juries. We send her warm congratulations on this honour’.
In addition to her roles at UCL, Professor Thomas has served as a special adviser on judicial affairs to numerous organisations including the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity, Judiciary of England and Wales, the Judicial College, the Scottish Judicial Institute, Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, the European Commission and Council of Europe.