Lex Lasry

Last updated

The Honourable Justice
Lex Lasry
AM , QC
Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria
In office
23 October 2007 –June 2018

Lex Lasry AM (born 8 July 1948) is an Australian lawyer and a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria from 2007 to 2018. He also sat as a reserve judge from 2018 until his retirement as a reserve judge in February 2024.

Contents

Early life and education

Lasry grew up in the Victorian country town of Healesville where his father worked as a solicitor. [1] [2] [3] He attended Healesville Primary School, Haileybury College and Monash University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Jurisprudence in 1970, and a Bachelor of Laws in 1972.

Career

Barrister and advocate

Lasry completed his 'articles' at the law firm Slater & Gordon, and read for the Victorian Bar under David Bennett QC. He was admitted to practise law in Victoria in 1973 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1990. [4] Lasry has acted as a junior counsel before the Costigan royal commission, counsel with the National Crime Authority, and was the Royal Commissioner [5] for the Inquiry into the Victorian Metropolitan Ambulance Service. [6] From 2003 and 2006, Lasry acted as senior counsel assisting the Coronial inquiry into the 2003 Canberra bushfires. Prior to his 2007 appointment to the bench, Lasry was entitled to practise law in the Australian jurisdictions of Victoria, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia. [7]

As the former chair of the Victorian Criminal Bar Association, in August 2004, Lasry was appointed as the independent observer representing the Law Council of Australia at the trial of Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks. [5] [8] He attended Military Commission hearings at Guantanamo Bay in August 2004 and March 2007.

As a barrister and Queens Counsel, Lasry has acted as defence counsel in several high-profile criminal cases in Australia and overseas. He acted on behalf of Joseph Thomas in a high-profile Australian terror trial (see R v Thomas ) in which Thomas was convicted of receiving funds from a terrorist organisation and for passport offences. The conviction was overturned on appeal. Lasry represented Van Tuong Nguyen in the high-profile case in which he was convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore in 2002 and executed in December 2005. [9] At about that time Lasry took up the case of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, two of the nine Australians convicted of drug trafficking in Indonesia, known as the Bali Nine. [10] That work has been continued by barrister Julian McMahon and a team of Victorian lawyers.

Appointment to the bench

Lasry was appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria on 23 October 2007. [5] [11] He is also a member of the Council of the International Criminal Bar for counsel practising before the International Court of Justice. He also chaired appellate hearings for the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) and for V8 Supercar racing, [12] and has a motor racing licence.

On 8 December 2011, he sentenced Matthew Charles Johnson to a non parole period of 32 years in jail over the murder of ‘Melbourne Gangland’ killer Carl Williams. [13]

On 18 March 2016, he sentenced Sean Price to life (38 years non parole) over the stabbing murder of 17 year old school girl Masa Vukotic. [14]

He retired in June 2018 but continued hearing cases as a reserve judge until February 2024. [15]

In February 2024, Lasry quit the judiciary in response to a complaint lodged by the Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Lasry rejected the complaint, but stated he could no longer preside over cases involving the DPP and he would therefore resign. [16]

Awards and honours

In 2007 Lasry was awarded the Law Council of Australia's inaugural Presidents Medal for his pro bono representation of Van Nguyen in 2005, and for his outstanding work as Independent Legal Observer for Hicks in 2004 and 2005. [8]

Personal life

Lasry has been a longstanding opponent of the use of the death penalty, arguing "when the state kills a citizen, no matter what they have done, the community is diminished by the killing." [17] In reference to the Bali Nine, Lasry stated "The idea that the government would take individuals out into the bush and shoot them is something I can never live with... and from a legal viewpoint, it has no deterrent value." [18] In 2015, Lasry organised a concert in support of jailed Australian journalist Peter Greste. [19]

He is a longtime supporter of the St Kilda Football Club and, in 2011, was appointed to serve a three-year term on the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Law at Monash University. [20]

He plays in his own rock band, The Lex Pistols, and he has raced Porsche cars for many years. [21]

Related Research Articles

The Bali Nine were a group of nine Australians convicted for attempting to smuggle 8.3 kg (18 lb) of heroin out of Indonesia in April 2005. The heroin was valued at around A$4 million and was bound for Australia. Ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were sentenced to death and executed on 29 April 2015. Six other members, Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush and Martin Stephens, were sentenced to life imprisonment and another, Renae Lawrence, to a 20-year sentence but was released after the sentence was commuted in November 2018. The Indonesian authorities reported on 5 June 2018 that Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen had died of stomach cancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myuran Sukumaran</span> Australian drug trafficker

Myuran Sukumaran was an Australian who was convicted in Indonesia of drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Sukumaran was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta, Bali with eight others. Police found 334 g (11.8 oz) of heroin in a suitcase in the room. According to court testimonies of convicted drug mules, Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were the co-ringleaders of the heroin-smuggling operation from Indonesia to Australia. After a criminal trial, Sukumaran was sentenced on 14 February 2006 by the Denpasar District Court to execution by firing squad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Chan (drug smuggler)</span> Australian drug trafficker (1984–2015)

Andrew Chan (Chinese: 陳子維; Jyutping: Can4 Zi2 Wai4; 12 January 1984 – 29 April 2015) was an Australian man who was convicted and executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Chan was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar. According to court testimonies of convicted drug mules, Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were the co-ringleaders of the heroin smuggling operation from Indonesia to Australia. After a criminal trial on 14 February 2006, Chan was sentenced to execution by firing squad by the Denpasar District Court.

Marilyn Louise Warren is a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria and lieutenant-governor of Victoria, Australia.

Monash University Faculty of Law, or Monash Law School, is the law school of Monash University. Founded in 1964, it is based in Melbourne, Victoria and has campuses in Malaysia and Italy. It is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in Australia and globally, and entry to its Bachelor of Laws (LLB) programme is highly competitive.

Sir Kevin Victor Anderson was an Australian lawyer and judge who served on the Supreme Court of Victoria from 1969 to 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Winneke</span> Australian jurist (1908–1985)

Sir Henry Arthur Winneke, was a Chief Justice of Victoria and the 21st Governor of Victoria, from 1974 to 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Chernov</span> Australian jurist

Alex Chernov is an Australian lawyer, judge and barrister who served as the 28th Governor of Victoria, from 2011 to 2015. Chernov also served as Vice-President of the Australian Bar Association, from 1986 to 1987, President of the Law Council of Australia, from 1990 to 1991, and the 20th Chancellor of Melbourne University, from 2009 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Rozenes</span> Australian judge

Michael Rozenes is the former Chief Judge of the County Court of Victoria, an intermediate court in Victoria, Australia. He presided over the County Court for thirteen years, retiring in June 2015.

Stuart Morris is an Australian lawyer. He served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria and as President of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) from 2003 until 2007. Former Chairman of the Victorian Government's Local Government Commission, 1986 under the Cain Government. Stuart Morris worked as a barrister, and was one of Australia's leading lawyers in planning law. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1991.

John Harber Phillips, AC, QC was an Australian lawyer and judge who served as Chief Justice of Victoria from 1991 to 2003. He was first appointed to the Victorian Supreme Court in 1984, having previously been the state's director of public prosecutions as well as a director of the National Crime Authority.

Gaetano (Tony) Pagone is a retired Australian judge who previously served as a judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 21 June 2013 until 31 March 2018. Until 21 June 2013, he was a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria in the Australian state of Victoria.

Jennifer Davies is an Australian judge who sat in the Supreme Court of Victoria from 2009 until she was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia in 2013.

Geoffrey Michael Eames is an Australian jurist, who was a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. He served in the trial division of the Court from 1992 to 2002, and was then a member of the Court of Appeal until 2007. He subsequently served as an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, and as Chief Justice of Nauru.

Julie Anne Dodds-Streeton is a Reserve Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. She was formerly a judge of the Federal Court of Australia, having served for four years from February 2010. Prior to that, she was a Justice of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Victoria, having previously been a Judge of the Trial Division of that Court from 2002.

Julian P McMahon is a Melbourne barrister, who has been the lawyer for Van Tuong Nguyen and members of the Bali Nine. He currently serves as the president of the Capital Punishment Justice Project, an organisation which aims to provide legal representation and humanitarian assistance to those at risk of execution.

Richard Michael Niall is an Australian jurist and a judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2017.

Kerri Judd is an Australian lawyer who has been Director of Public Prosecutions for the state of Victoria since 2018. She is the first woman to be appointed to the role. Since 17th September 2024 she has been appointed as a judge in the Victorian Supreme Court.

Sir George Hermann Lush was an Australian lawyer, Supreme Court Judge and Chancellor of Monash University.

References

  1. ↑ "The QC disrobed: meet the Supreme Court's Lex Lasry, drummer in the Lex Pistols and man of many parts". 10 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "Hire our Healesville Towing Service Today - Fast Melbourne Towing".
  3. ↑ "Counsel for the condemned". 26 November 2005.
  4. ↑ Lasry, Lex (24 July 2007). "David Hicks v the United States" (PDF). Summary of the Report of the Independent Observer for the Law Council of Australia. Canberra, Australia: Law Council of Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 Butcher, Steve (24 October 2007). "Colleagues heap praise on new Justice Lex Lasry". The Age . Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Lasry, Lex (May 2001). "Report of the Metropolitan Ambulance Service Royal Commission". Victorian Metropolitan Ambulance Service Royal Commission. Melbourne: Parliament of Victoria. p. 261. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "Biography". Victorian Bar Association. Archived from the original on 21 August 2006.
  8. 1 2 "2007: Mr Lex Lasry QC". Presidents Medal. Law Council of Australia. 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  9. ↑ O'Brien, Kerry (1 December 2005). "Nguyen lawyer describes painful journey" (transcript). The 7.30 Report . Australia: ABC TV . Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  10. ↑ Kalina, Paul (23 February 2006). "Trial by media in Bali". The Age . Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  11. ↑ "Judges". Supreme Court of Victoria. 10 February 2015. Archived from the original on 1 March 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  12. ↑ "Ward's whopper fine stands, pretty much". motoring.com.au. 20 September 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  13. ↑ "Judge Lex Lasry sentences Matthew Charles Johnson" . Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "Sean Price: Justice Lex Lasry's searing assessment of how killer was left to prey on Masa Vukotic". ABC News. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  15. ↑ Doraisamy, Jerome; Doraisamy, Jerome (16 July 2018). "5 judges appointed for Vic Supreme Court, Court of Appeal" . Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  16. ↑ https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/judge-quits-over-stoush-with-dpp/news-story/6253a6c94c9eb26802b81845adf15635 [ bare URL ]
  17. ↑ Lasry, Lex (3 February 2007). "Australia must stick to its principles". The Age . Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "Bali Nine: Senior judge Lex Lasry adds voice to calls for clemency for Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran". 7.30 . Australia: ABC TV. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  19. ↑ Santhebennur, Malavika (25 July 2014). "Lawyers band together for detained journo". Lawyers Weekly. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  20. ↑ "Faculty of Law - Council Appointments to Faculty Board". Council Meeting 6/2011. Monash University. 29 September 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  21. ↑ Graham Reilly, "The good life", The Age. 11 July 2015, Spectrum, p. 4
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.