Mark Walters is a Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology. He previously served as Deputy Head of Sussex Law School, where he remains affiliated as Honorary Professor of Law. His research interests are focused primarily on hate crime studies, as well as criminal law and criminal justice reform with a special emphasis on restorative justice practice and theory. Mark's research has a particular focus on anti-LGBTQ+ hate and LGBTQ+ rights more broadly. 

Mark previously completed his doctorate in law (criminology) specialising in hate crime and restorative justice at the Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford (2012). He has also completed an MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice (Research Methods) at the Centre for Criminology University of Oxford (2008), an LLM specialising in criminal justice at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (2006), and an LLB, at the University of Sussex (2002).

Mark is particularly interested in connecting academic research to policy and law making, and was previously an Impact Assessor on the REF 2021 subpanel for Law.

Mark has advised (advises) on hate crime to the Home Office, Law Commission, Metropolitan Police Service, and the London Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, as well as numerous NGOs and civil society organisations. Mark has also presented research evidence in the House of Commons (UK), the European Parliament (Brussels), and the Oireachtas (Dublin). Most recently he has delivered lectures and training for the United Nations' Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders in Tokyo.

In 2013 Mark co-founded the International Network for Hate Studies which aims to connect researchers, policy markers and practitioners in addressing the causes and consequences of hate crime and hate speech. The Network now has over 1,000 members worldwide.