Dr Jonathan W. Hak KC

I am a Canadian barrister and solicitor (member of the Law Society of Alberta) who served as a Crown Prosecutor with the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service for over 30 years. I have extensive experience prosecuting serious and violent crime.

I obtained my PhD in Law at Leiden University (Netherlands) in 2023 after I concluded my role as a Crown Prosecutor. The subject of my PhD thesis was on the use of image-based evidence in international criminal prosecutions. I research, write, and lecture on this topic internationally.

I have taught law (criminal law, evidence, business law) at the post-secondary level in Canada during my entire career as a lawyer.

I am member of the Editorial Board of Science & Justice, the Journal of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences (UK).

My research, writing, lecturing, and multinational conference presentations have primarily been focused on the use of image-based evidence in domestic and international criminal prosecutions. My book Image-Based Evidence in International Criminal Prosecutions: Charting a Path Forward was published by Oxford University Press in 2024.

My research focuses on the acquisition, evaluation, and use of photographs, video recordings, CCTV, drone imagery, satellite imagery, and open source imagery found on social media and other open source sites. The challenges and opportunities posed by these types of evidence in criminal investigations and prosecutions are of particular interest to me. Key issues include image authenticity, interpretation, reliability, and legal issues that arise when seeking to use such images as evidence.

I am also delving into confronting AI and image manipulation in the criminal justice system. This research is aimed at how real images can be modified to present a false construct; how synthetic images are created using AI; the current forensic methods that can be used to discover altered or synthetic images; and ongoing research in forgery and false image detection. My research is reflective of the threat that AI generated and other falsified images pose to the search for the truth. 

• J. Hak, ‘Legal Considerations for Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Evidence and Expert Testimony’, in Introduction to Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, edited by Toby Wolson (Boca Raton: CRC Press, publication October 2024).
• J. Hak, Image-Based Evidence in International Criminal Prosecutions: Charting a Path Forward (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024).
• J. Hak, ‘The Pedagogical Expert Witness: Teaching Complex Science in the Courtroom’, Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal (2022), DOI: 10.1080/00085030.2022.2135742.
• C. Witt, J. Hak, E. Gibbs Van Brunschot, and G. Abela, ‘Evaluating Canadian Legal Changes in Context: Homicide Investigator Insights’, Homicide Studies, 1-18 (2022) DOI: 10.1177/10887679221113512.
• E. Gibbs Van Brunschot, G. Abela, C. Witt, and J. Hak, ‘Poisoned Chalice?: The Challenges of Forensic Science and Technology for Homicide Investigations’, Police Practice and Research, 1-19 (2022), DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2022.2132250.
• J. Hak, ‘Evaluation of the Forensic Science Regulator’s Recommendations Regarding Image Comparison Evidence’, Forensic Science International: Synergy, 1 (2019), 294-297.
• J. Hak, ‘Response to ‘Commentary on: Hak. Evaluation of the Forensic Science Regulator’s Recommendations Regarding Image Comparison Evidence’, Forensic Science International: Synergy, 9(1) (2019), 302.

• Advanced Criminal Law (LW3320)
• Foundations of Canadian Law (LW2181)
• Canadian Constitutional Law (LW3182)

• Criminal law
• Evidence
• The use of image-based evidence in domestic and international criminal prosecutions
• The threat of AI and other falsified images to the search for the truth

• Diploma in Criminal Justice (Mount Royal College, Canada)
• BSc (with distinction) in Criminal Justice (California State University)
• LLB (University of British Columbia)
• LLM (Cambridge)
• PhD in Law (Leiden University, Netherlands)
• Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2006 (now King’s Counsel)