sara-melissa-smyth
Sara Melissa Smyth, PhD
Associate Professor

Director of LLM Program & Coordinator of Masters of Cyber-Security Program (Law)
La Trobe Law School, La Trobe University
Plenty Road & Kingsbury Drive, Melbourne, Australia
Phone: +61 450747109
E-mail: S.Smyth@latrobe.edu.au

Education

2008 Ph.D. in Law, York University, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto, Ontario.
2005 Master of Laws (LL.M.), University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, Toronto, Ontario.
2003 Called to the Bar of British Columbia (Barrister & Solicitor).
2001 Juris Doctor (J.D.), University of Victoria, Faculty of Law, Victoria, B.C.
1998 Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.

Biography

Dr. Sara M. Smyth is an Associate Professor at La Trobe University Law School in Melbourne, where she is the Director of the Master of Laws (LLM) program and the Coordinator for the Masters of Cyber-Security Program (Law). She is also developing new cyber-law courses and presenting at various conferences and other speaking engagements on cyber-related topics. In 2016, she was a visiting scholar at the Castan Centre for Human Rights at Monash University’s Faculty of Law in Melbourne. In 2015, she was a visiting scholar at Georgetown University Law School in Washington, D.C. prior to joining La Trobe; Sara was an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law and the Director of the Canadian Program in Law at Bond University, Australia from 2012 to 2016.

Sara has consulted extensively to Public Safety Canada and written several books including Cybercrime in Canadian Criminal Law (Second Edition, 2015). Her most recent book, Drone Controversies – Ethical and Legal Debates Surrounding Targeted Strikes and Electronic Surveillance, was published in December, 2016. She has presented widely in North America, Europe and Asia, including the U.S. Department of Defence Cybercrime Conference (2009 and 2010).

Sara has a long and distinguished history as a cyber-law expert From 2009 until 2012, she was an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University where she taught cybercrime courses and was the Associate Director for the International Cybercrime Research Centre. She received a PhD from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University (2008); an LL.M. from the University of Toronto (2005); and a J.D. from the University of Victoria, Canada (2001). She also served as a law clerk at the British Columbia Court of Appeal and practiced law in Vancouver, Canada.


Research Interest

  • Introduction to Cyber-Forensics and the Law
  • Cyber Law

Scientific Activities

Teaching Experience
December 2016-Current Associate Professor (Continuing) School of Law, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC
January, 2017 Visiting Professor Faculty of Law (Common Law), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
May-August 2016 Visiting Scholar Faculty of Law, Castan Centre for Human Rights, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
May-August 2015 Visiting Scholar Faculty of Law, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., USA
July 2012-December 2016 Associate Professor (Continuing) Faculty of Law, Director, Canadian Program in Law, Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia
September 2009-June 2012 Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) School of Criminology, Associate Director of the International Cybercrime Research Centre (ICRC), Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia
September, 2006-July, 2009 Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) Department of Criminal Justice, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rochester, New York
Awards
2015 Bond University Faculty of Law Research Grant
March 2013 Received commendation letter for developing new delivery methods that involve blended learning for course materials created
2010/2011 Law Foundation of British Columbia Legal Research Fund Grant
2010/2011 SFU/Vice President Research Travel Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities
2009/2010 Wendy MacDonald Endowed Research Fellowship, Simon Fraser University
2009/2010 President’s Research Startup Grant, Simon Fraser University
2005/2006 Nathanson Fellowship in Organized Crime, Osgoode Hall Law School
2005/2006 York Scholarship, York University
2005/2006 Harley D. Hallett Scholarship, Osgoode Hall Law School and York University
External Scholarly Responsibilities
  • May, 2017: Peer Review – Routledge (a book manuscript – Fantasy Crime: The Criminalisation of Fantasy Material under Australia’s Child Abuse Material Legislation).
  • Current – Editorial Advisory Board Member, International Journal of Cyber-Criminology.
  • August, 2015: Peer Review - Canadian Journal of Law & Technology - "International Law Enforcement Access to User Data: A Survival Guide and Call for Action."
  • January, 2015: Peer Review - Journal of Child and Youth Services (an article on law enforcement & online child exploitation).
  • May, 2013: Peer Review – Queen’s Law Journal - “Privacy and Civic Duty: The Right to Online Anonymity and the Charter Compliant Scope of Voluntary Cooperation with Police Requests.”
  • January, 2012: Peer Review - Routledge (a book proposal on policing cybercrime/ terrorism).
  • August/September, 2011: Peer Review, University of Ottawa's Medical Research Fund (Department of Psychiatry) re: a grant proposal on Internet child pornography offenders.
External Service and Service to the University
  • October, 2010: Peer Review - Justice Quarterly (an article on cyberspace/cybercrime).
  • September, 2010: Judge, Media Awards, Beyond Borders (recognizing Canadian journalists for exemplary work covering issues related to the sexual exploitation of children).
  • 2010-2012: Expert Advisor (technology-related issues) to SFU Research Ethics Board.
  • 2009-2012: Member of the Undergraduate Committee, SFU School of Criminology.
  • September, 2010: Faculty Mentor for incoming first-year students at SFU.
  • January, 2010: Faculty Representative and Presenter, SFU Cybercrime Symposium.
Other Work Experience:
2005-2005 Intern, Special Procedures Branch, United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland
2004-2005 Research Assistant, Centre for Innovation Law and Policy, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
2003-2004 Barrister & Solicitor, Black, Gropper & Company, Vancouver, British Columbia
2002-2003 Articled Student and then Lawyer, McCarthy Tetrault LLP, Vancouver, British Columbia
2001-2002 Judicial Law Clerk, British Columbia Court of Appeal, Vancouver, British Columbia
2000-2001 Research Assistant to the Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia
Other Professional Associations and Activities
2011-2012 Member of the American Academy of Forensic Science
2010-2012 Member of the Western Society of Criminology
2003-2004 Member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Mental Health Association
2001-Ongoing Member of the Law Society of British Columbia (maintain “non-practicing” status)
2001-2004 Member of the Canadian Bar Association
2000-2001 Law Review Editor, Appeal: Law Review, University of Victoria

Publications

  1. “The Warfare of the Future,” in Henry Prunckun (Ed.) Cyber Weapons (in development).
  2. “Keep Calm But Don’t Carry On – New Drone Regulations in the United States,” Journal of Law Information and Science (In Press; Peer Reviewed).
  3. Drone Controversies: Ethical and Legal Debates Behind Targeted Killing and Electronic Surveillance (Thomson Reuters, December 2016).
  4. The Greening of Canadian Cyber-Law: What Environmental Law Can Teach and Cyber-Law Can Learn” (2014) International Journal of Cyber-Criminology 8(2) 111 (Peer-Reviewed).
  5. “Does Australia Really Need Mandatory Data Breach Notification Laws – And If So, What Kind?” (2013) Journal of Law Information and Science 22(2). ISSN-0729-1485 (Peer Reviewed).
  6. The New Social Media Paradox: A Symbol of Self-Determination or a Boon for Big Brother?” International Journal of Cyber-Criminology, January – June 2012, Vol 6 (1): 924–950 (Peer Reviewed).
  7. “Searches of Computers and Computer Data at the United States Border: The Need for a New Framework Following United States v. Arnold,” (2009) University of Illinois Journal of Law, Technology and Policy 69.
  8. “A ‘Reasoned Apprehension’ of Overbreadth: An Alternative Approach to the Problems Presented by s.163.1 of the Criminal Code,” University of British Columbia Law Review, Vol.42, No.1, 2009, 69-123 (Peer Reviewed).
  9. Sara M. Smyth, “Online Child Pornography, An International Crisis from a Canadian Perspective,” Ph.D. Dissertation, 2012.
  10. “Back to the Future: In Search of an Understanding of Crime and Punishment in Second Life,” (2009) 36 Rutgers Computer & Tech. L.J. 18.
  11. “Internet Regulation in Canada: How to Achieve the Goals of Suspect Identification and Evidence Gathering Online,” Internet and E-Commerce Law in Canada, Vol.10, No.1, May 2009, 1.
  12. “Book Review of Caught in the Web: Inside the Police Hunt to Rescue Children from Online Predators,” Information and Communications Technology Law, Vol.17, No. 2, June 2008, 151-159.
  13. Mind the Gap: A New Model for Internet Child Pornography Regulation in Canada,” (2007) 4:1 University of Ottawa Law and Technology Journal 59 (Peer reviewed).

Books and Book Chapters

  1. Cybercrime in Canadian Criminal Law (2nd Edition), (Carswell, 2015).
  2. Cybercrime in Canadian Criminal Law (Carswell, 2010).
  3. Child Pornography and the Law in Canada – A New Agenda for the Information Age (Pearson, 2010).
  4. “Internet Intermediary Liability in Canada” in Karim Ismaili, Jane B. Sprott & Kim Varma (Eds.) Canadian Criminal Justice Policy: A Contemporary Reader (Oxford University Press, 2012).

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