Presenters

Nicholas Cowdery AO KC FAAL, Former Director of Public Prosecutions for NSW (1994-2011), former Barrister (1971-2017), former Associate Judge of the District Court of NSW, Adjunct Professor of Law, University of New South Wales and University of Sydney; Chair of the National Human Rights Committee, Law Council of Australia; Director, Justice Reform Initiative
Nicholas Cowdery AO KC FAAL has been involved in criminal justice for 55 years – as a prosecutor, defender, judge and teacher. He was the Director of Public Prosecutions for NSW from 1994 to 2011. Since then, as an Adjunct Professor, he has taught criminal justice courses at the Universities of Sydney and of NSW. He is a past President of the International Association of Prosecutors and founding Co-Chair of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association. He is Chair of the National Human Rights Committee of the Law Council of Australia and has held related offices in the past. He speaks to community groups about criminal justice issues. He is a director of the Justice Reform Initiative, working to reduce reliance upon imprisonment as the answer to every criminal problem. He campaigns for drug law reform and was involved in the campaigns to legalise abortion and voluntary assisted dying. He is the author of three books: “Getting Justice Wrong: Myths, Media and Crime” (Allen & Unwin, 2001); “Frank & Fearless”, with Rachael Jane Chin (NewSouth, 2019); and “Discretion in Criminal Justice” (LexisNexis, 2022).


Lisa-Claire Hutchinson, Barrister, Forbes Chambers
Lisa-Claire was called to the Bar in 2013. Her principal area of practice is criminal law. She appears in appeals in the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal; in jury trials and sentences in the NSW District Court, hearings and coronial inquests in the Local Court and Coroner’s Court of NSW and in various commissions of inquiry. Before being called to the Bar, Lisa-Claire worked as a solicitor at the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT. She narrowly avoided a career in commercial litigation when in 2009 she volunteered as a Trial Chamber Associate at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Her exposure there to advocacy and to international criminal law led her to pursue criminal law upon her return to Australia.

Presenters

Nicholas Cowdery AO KC FAAL, Former Director of Public Prosecutions for NSW (1994-2011), former Barrister (1971-2017), former Associate Judge of the District Court of NSW, Adjunct Professor of Law, University of New South Wales and University of Sydney; Chair of the National Human Rights Committee, Law Council of Australia; Director, Justice Reform Initiative
Nicholas Cowdery AO KC FAAL has been involved in criminal justice for 55 years – as a prosecutor, defender, judge and teacher. He was the Director of Public Prosecutions for NSW from 1994 to 2011. Since then, as an Adjunct Professor, he has taught criminal justice courses at the Universities of Sydney and of NSW. He is a past President of the International Association of Prosecutors and founding Co-Chair of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association. He is Chair of the National Human Rights Committee of the Law Council of Australia and has held related offices in the past. He speaks to community groups about criminal justice issues. He is a director of the Justice Reform Initiative, working to reduce reliance upon imprisonment as the answer to every criminal problem. He campaigns for drug law reform and was involved in the campaigns to legalise abortion and voluntary assisted dying. He is the author of three books: “Getting Justice Wrong: Myths, Media and Crime” (Allen & Unwin, 2001); “Frank & Fearless”, with Rachael Jane Chin (NewSouth, 2019); and “Discretion in Criminal Justice” (LexisNexis, 2022).


Lisa-Claire Hutchinson, Barrister, Forbes Chambers
Lisa-Claire was called to the Bar in 2013. Her principal area of practice is criminal law. She appears in appeals in the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal; in jury trials and sentences in the NSW District Court, hearings and coronial inquests in the Local Court and Coroner’s Court of NSW and in various commissions of inquiry. Before being called to the Bar, Lisa-Claire worked as a solicitor at the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT. She narrowly avoided a career in commercial litigation when in 2009 she volunteered as a Trial Chamber Associate at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Her exposure there to advocacy and to international criminal law led her to pursue criminal law upon her return to Australia.