With sex crimes so much in the news it's felicitous that London barrister Felicity Gerry has, for the time being, fetched-up in Darwin ... The co-author of The Sexual Offences Handbook has some thoughts about the McClellan Royal Commission, and what makes for an effective hangover cure
FELICITY GERRY is an international criminal barrister based in London at 36 Bedford Row. She is currently visiting Darwin, because her husband is working on the Ichthys LNG Project.
Felicity Gerry: Cakes and MarmiteShe prosecutes and defends serious and complex murder, rape and fraud cases. She is regarded as a "rape specialist advocate".
Gerry is described in Legal 500 as "tenacious in court ... an expert in the field of sexual offences".
She is the co-author of The Sexual Offences Handbook, published 2010. She is also "Of Counsel" to a US Law Firm and visiting counsel to William Forster Chambers in Darwin.
Gerry is a well-versed legal media commentator, regularly appearing on BBC TV and radio and Sky News as well as writing for the broadsheets.
She has a regular column in Criminal Law and Justice Weekly and is currently appearing on the Crime and Investigation Network in the Evil Up Close series.
There's more here.
Right now she's on Justinian's Couch ...
Describe yourself in three words.
The Wicked Witch!
What are you currently reading?
"Criminal Laws of the Northern Territory," by Stephen Gray and Jenny Blockland. As I am visiting William Forster Chambers in Darwin, it seemed important to get to grips with local law.
What's your favourite film?
"Gone With the Wind" - I like a challenge.
Who has been the most influential person in your life?
The late Mr Justice Hunt QC [not former Justice David Hunt, NSW Supremes]. I started my pupillage in a Magistrates Court in a small market town where he was leading my pupil supervisor in a murder by poisoning. It was better than the TV. Later he was the judge in a complicated murder case of mine where the defendant had absconded to Nigeria. He was a formidable advocate who once said "no good circus ever crept into town".
What is your favourite piece of music?
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow", sung by Eva Cassidy.
What is in your refrigerator?
Ask my husband - I don't shop or cook.
What is your favourite website?
What do you recommend as a hangover cure?
Children - they reduce the chances of having a hangover at all.
What words or phrases do you overuse?
Where's my phone?
What is your greatest weakness?
Cake!
Why have you specialised in prosecuting and defending sexual offences cases?
I had a lucky break defending youths at the beginning of my career and found I was skilled at advocacy involving vulnerable people, whether they are witnesses or defendants.
What effect has this work had on you emotionally?
It takes a certain sort of person to prosecute or defend these cases, usually one with an ability to separate work from home. Some cases inevitably affect you more than others but it is important to ensure cases are tried properly on evidence, not emotion.
What do you think should be the most important thing to come out of the McClellan Royal Commission?
That complaints are taken seriously and robustly prosecuted and myths about stereotypical rapists or victims are well and truly busted.
What would you change about the way the law deals with sex offences?
The modern law, practices and procedures are far more effective than the old law in dealing with sexual offending. Judicial directions should develop to help improve the understanding of the general public who sit on juries. Trial advocates should be instructed to advise at an early stage of the investigation and it ought to be made simpler to prosecute cross jurisdictional cases where offenders rape and abuse in different countries or states.
What's your most glamorous feature?
My smile.
If you were a foodstuff, what would you be?
Marmite.
What human quality do you most distrust?
Dishonesty.
Whom or what do you consider overrated?
At the risk of alienating my colleagues - male barristers and judges. This is not to say they are ineffective, but to point out that successful women at the criminal bar and on the bench are still sadly too rare.
What would your epitaph say?
She worked too hard.
What comes into your mind when you shut your eyes and think of the word "law"?
Rumpole of the Bailey.