Barrister Profile Lyma Nguyen LL. M., LL. B., B. A., GDLP Chambers: Floor : Room : Admitted: 06/07/2007 Signed Bar Roll: 02/06/2014 Admitted to Practice: New South Wales, Northern Territory Phone: Mobile: 0404111579 E-Mail: Send EMail QUALIFICATIONS LL. M., LL. B., B. A., GDLP BAR PRACTICE First Admission 2007, New South Wales Other Jurisdictions Northern Territory High Court of Australia Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Areas of Practice Criminal defence and prosecution in all courts for all indictable, simple and regulatory offences, including corporation crimes and transnational criminal law; International criminal and human rights law; Immigration, Refugee and Statelessness; Commissions and Boards of Inquiries, Coronial Inquiries; Domestic human rights and anti-discrimination (including work
health related matters); Administrative law and judicial reviews of administrative decisions, Extradition, Mutual Assistance and International Transfer of Prisoners; Maritime Law; Contracts; Police disciplinary matters; Victims of Crime Compensation; Personal Violence Orders; Mental Health Review Tribunal; Professional Disciplinary matters; Appellate matters before NT CAT and Supreme Court. Degrees Masters in Law (specialising in International Law), Australian National University Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, College of Law Bachelor of Laws, University of Queensland Bachelor of Arts (Double Major in Philosophy and Peace and Conflict Studies), University of Queensland Appointments and Awards Member, Diversity and Equity Committee, Australian Bar Association (2016) Listed on French Consulate-General website as French-speaking lawyer in the NT (2016) Vice-President, Criminal Law Association of the Northern Territory (2015) Representative of NT Bar Association on Law Council of Australia's Rule of Law Network (2015) Member, Northern Territory Bar Council (since 2014) Director, Australian Volunteers International (honorary role, since 2014). 'Trailblazing Woman Lawyer' (one of 45 selected Australian female lawyers in oral history project conducted by ANU and University of Melbourne, 2014) Recipient of Churchill Fellowship (2014/2015) Recipient of Australian Prime Minister's Executive Endeavour Award (2013) Law and Justice Civilian Expert, Australian Civilian Corps (2012) Returned Australian Volunteer: Assignment with Lawyers Beyond Borders in Cambodia (2010/2011) Practising International Victims Counsel, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (since 2009)
Career Lyma is an advocate practising both domestically and internationally in the areas of criminal law, administrative and public law, inquiries, human rights. Lyma has been recognised as one of 45 Trailblazing Australian Women Lawyers, particularly for her international pro bono work of nearly a decade, as International Civil Party Counsel at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (Khmer Rouge Tribunal), where she has appeared at Preliminary Legal Arguments and Closing Submissions for Civil Parties in Case 002/01 as well as during the trial segment on the genocide of the ethnic Vietnamese in Case 002/02. Domestically, she has acted in matters in the Northern Territory Supreme Court (criminal, civil, case stated and appeals jurisdictions); Local Court (criminal and civil jurisdictions); Youth Justice Court; NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal; Mental Health Review Tribunal; Federal Court and Federal Circuit Court (nation-wide); Coronial Inquests; Police Disciplinary Tribunals. As a trial advocate both in Australia and abroad, Lyma accepts briefs to appear and advise across criminal and civil jurisdictions. First admitted as a Solicitor and Barrister in New South Wales, and registered to practise at the High Court of Australia, Lyma became admitted in the Northern Territory, following a practice of over six-years as a Federal Prosecutor with the office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP). As a Federal Prosecutor, Lyma had conduct of a range of indictable and summary matters including transnational crimes (illegal foreign fisheries, crimes at sea, aviation offences, illegal importations and drug offences, Migration Act offences, and take evidence proceedings in Mutual Assistance matters), human exploitation offences (human trafficking, slavery, child sex exploitation) and corporations offences. Earlier in her career, Lyma worked at the Federal Attorney-General's Department, both in Criminal Justice Division, in the area of international transfer of prisoners, dealing with prisoner case work and bilateral treaties, and in Civil Justice Division (Human Rights Branch), scrutinising bills and providing legal and policy advice on domestic human rights and antidiscrimination matters, leading up to the federal National Consultation on Human Rights (2008/2009). Lyma also worked at the Department of Immigration
and Citizenship and the Office of the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions, and undertook an international clerkship in the litigation department of leading Singaporean law firm, Drew & Napier LLP. International Practice Lyma is one of 45 nominated Australian women lawyers whose oral history is recorded in the national archives in the Trailblazing Women Lawyers Project, particularly for her work as International Civil Party Counsel at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia ('ECCC' or Khmer Rouge Tribunal). Since 2009, Lyma has provided pro bono legal services for over 100 victims of the Khmer Rouge regime, including foreign nationals, members of the Cambodian diaspora world-wide, as well as ethnic minority victims in the Tribunal's historical genocide case. In 2010, she took an assignment as International Criminal Law Advisor with Lawyers Beyond Borders under AVI where she provided advice to national lawyers from Legal Aid of Cambodia on its work with the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and its labour and human trafficking project. In the ECCC jurisdiction, Lyma successfully appealed Civil Party admissibility decisions before the Pre-Trial Chamber and appeared as Counsel in pre-trial and trial proceedings, including at the examination of Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch, convicted in Case 001), the Closing Statements in Case 002 and evidence proceedings in the trial segment involving the genocide of the ethnic Vietnamese minority victims she represents. In 2013, she received the Prime Minister's Executive Endeavour Award in recognition of her work in at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. One year later, Lyma was awarded the prestigious Churchill Fellowship with the aim to build expertise in the practice of international criminal justice by examining the operation of international courts and preparing victim representation in the genocide trial before the ECCC. At a specialised training course in 'Advocacy and Litigation before International Courts and Tribunals' organized by the Universiteit Leiden, The Hague, she was awarded the Best Advocate Award. Since 2012, Lyma has been enlisted as a Law and Justice Civilian Expert on the register of the Australian Civilian Corps under the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, for rapid deployment to fragile or postconflict situations. In this capacity, she has provided
advice as a subject matter civilian expert in detention, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration. Lyma has worked in Cambodia, Singapore, Nigeria and East Timor, and has French and Vietnamese language skills. She has guest-lectured at universities globally and presented extensively on genocide and victims representation in international courts, including at the Legal Eagles Criminal Law Conference (Luang Prabang, Laos, 2016 and Hoi An, Vietnam, 2015), the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL) Conference, Canberra (2014); and CLANT Conference (Bali, 2013). For more information about Lyma's international practice, see www.civilparties.org. Publications College of Law NT Practice Papers (editor, August 2016): Professional Conduct and Discipline (PR801), The Lawyer and Client Relationship (PR802); A Lawyer's Relationship with the Court (PR803) and A Lawyer's Relationship with the Public (PR804). Macquarie Law Journal Victim Participation and Minorities in Internationalised Criminal Trials: Ethnic Vietnamese Civil Parties at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, (2014) 14 MqLJ 97. Lyma Nguyen and Christoph Sperfeldt, A Boat Without Anchors: Report on the Legal Status of Ethnic Vietnamese Minority Populations in Cambodia under Domestic and International Laws Governing Nationality and Statelessness, published by Jesuit Refugee Service Cambodia, 2012. NT Law Journal Representing Minority Victims in Genocide Trials, (2014) 2 NTLJ 363. Personal Interests Philosophy, physics and metaphysics, critical thinking and debate, music, playing guitar, watching films, reading for leisure (when time allows), poetry, making jewellery, inventing things, creating artwork.