Yvette Tinsley's teaching and research interests lie in the fields of criminal law and justice, penal policy, and law and science. As co-director of the Te Herenga Waka Centre for Justice Innovation, Yvette works to create and promote evidence-based debate, education and reform on justice related matters, particularly those involving innovation in thought and practice.

Yvette has researched and published across numerous areas of criminal law and justice in New Zealand and internationally, including most recently on jury decision-making and cultural misconceptions in sexual offending trials; media intrusion following crime and disasters; and the impact on legal professionals of emotional labour and vicarious trauma in criminal cases. Beginning with her doctoral research on eyewitness identification in the UK, Yvette has spent over 25 years undertaking empirical legal research that is focused on legal and policy reforms to improve participants’ experiences in the criminal justice process.

Yvette's work has resulted in extensive legal and policy change, and to improvements in professional practice. She was a primary researcher on both New Zealand jury studies, and she is co-author of From 'Real Rape' to Real Justice: Prosecuting Rape in New Zealand (VUP) on pre-trial and trial reform in sexual cases and The Evidence Act 2006: Act and Analysis (Thomson Reuters, 1^st-3^rd editions). She has worked with groups including the New Zealand Law Commission, Ministry of Justice, New Zealand Defence Force, and New Zealand Police. She is also an elected member of the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation, and is involved in numerous research networks including the LEX network on law, gender and sexuality research. Her current work includes ongoing research on legal professionals’ wellbeing; a Borrin funded project on custodial remand; remote participation in the criminal courts; and juror decision-making in sexual violence trials.