Biography

Sarah Summers (LL.B Hons, Glasgow, 2000; Dr. iur., Zurich, 2006) is a Professor of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedural Law, and Criminology at the Faculty of Law of the University of Zurich. She studied Scots Law at the University of Glasgow and received both her doctorate and habilitiation from the University of Zurich.

She previously held the position of Assistant Professor of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedural Law and Criminology (2017-2022) and, before that, as SNF Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law (2012-2017) at the University of Zurich. From 2018 until 2023, she was a member of the Humanities Panel at the Swiss Research Council (SNF).

Prof. Summers' research interests lie in the field of criminal law and human rights. Her work explores the empirical realities of criminal justice and the significance of normative principles underpinning systems of criminal justice within the rule of law.

She is co-director of the Digital Society Initiative (DSI), a commission member of the Criminal Institute of the Canton of Zurich, and a member of the Prosecutorial Regulatory Oversight Commission of the Canton of Basel City. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Trustees of the kihz (daycare center) at the University of Zurich and ETHZ. She is also a member of the Editorial Committee of Quaestio Facti: International Journal on Evidential Reasoning and is on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Evidence and Proof.