Samuel Mathew Lovering
Pronouns: He/Him
About
My research project
The Temporal Boundaries of Criminal Liability: Postnatal Crystallisation, Prenatal Harm, and the Reconciliation of Autonomy and Responsibility in English & Welsh LawMy research examines how the criminal law might respond to prenatal wrongdoing where harm only becomes legally cognisable after a child is born alive. It uses a proposed offence of causing serious prenatal harm to explore questions of temporality, culpability, causation, maternal autonomy, and foetal welfare without requiring the attribution of legal personhood before birth.
Supervisors
My research examines how the criminal law might respond to prenatal wrongdoing where harm only becomes legally cognisable after a child is born alive. It uses a proposed offence of causing serious prenatal harm to explore questions of temporality, culpability, causation, maternal autonomy, and foetal welfare without requiring the attribution of legal personhood before birth.
My qualifications
Bachelor of Laws with Honours
University of Surrey
2026
Barrister Training Course with Professional Legal Studies (LLM)
BPP
Affiliations and memberships
Member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple
Student member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.
ResearchResearch interests
Criminal law and theory; culpability and responsibility; prenatal harm; causation; temporality in criminal liability; maternal autonomy and foetal welfare; Welsh constitutional law, devolution, sovereignty, and the constitutional implications of Welsh independence.
Research interests
Criminal law and theory; culpability and responsibility; prenatal harm; causation; temporality in criminal liability; maternal autonomy and foetal welfare; Welsh constitutional law, devolution, sovereignty, and the constitutional implications of Welsh independence.