Margaret Cunneen
Encyclopedia
Margaret Cunneen SC
is an Australian barrister
and prosecutor
. She was born Margaret Mary Cunneen on 15 January 1959 at St. Margaret's Hospital in Darlinghurst, Australia
, the daughter of John and Catherine Cunneen. Cunneen lives in Sydney, New South Wales. She has three sons.
Cunneen grew up in the south western suburbs of Sydney, was educated at Santa Sabina College, Strathfield and joined the Attorney General's Ministerial Office in 1977. She received her law degrees from the NSW Institute of Technology and Masters from Sydney University became a barrister
in 1982. She is currently Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor
in New South Wales and has held a commission as a Crown Prosecutor since 1990. She came to prominence when she prosecuted a series of highly publicised pedophiles and several notable gang rape and murder trials. Notable cases prosecuted by Cunneen include:
In October 2007 she was appointed as Senior Counsel after being turned down on five previous occasions and her peers at the Bar have elected her as one of 21 members of the Bar Council.
In April 2007 The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Cunneen had been removed as prosecutor in the trial of an alleged gang rapist after all three appeal judges found there would be a perception of unfairness if she acted in the case. This was because she had spoken publicly about the case, although without naming it and speaking only in reference to the 7 year delay in concluding it, during the Sir Ninian Stephen
Lecture in 2005 at Newcastle University
. Cunneen's lecture was described by Justice David Levine as "the most articulate commentary on the criminal justice system, in my opinion".[9] The decision to remove her was criticised by the New South Wales Bar Association,
however it was not appealed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
In 2010, Cunneen as a private citizen, gave character evidence for Brett Stewart, referring to his having campaigned in New Guinea against violence towards women, in Sydney's District Court in his trial after an allegation of sexual assault. Stewart was found not guilty by the jury in under an hour's deliberation.
Senior Counsel
The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel is given to a senior barrister or advocate in some countries, typically equivalent to the title "Queen's Counsel" used in Commonwealth Realms...
is an Australian barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
. She was born Margaret Mary Cunneen on 15 January 1959 at St. Margaret's Hospital in Darlinghurst, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the daughter of John and Catherine Cunneen. Cunneen lives in Sydney, New South Wales. She has three sons.
Cunneen grew up in the south western suburbs of Sydney, was educated at Santa Sabina College, Strathfield and joined the Attorney General's Ministerial Office in 1977. She received her law degrees from the NSW Institute of Technology and Masters from Sydney University became a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
in 1982. She is currently Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor
Crown Prosecutor
Crown Prosecutors are the public prosecutors in the legal system of Australia.Crown Prosecutors represent the Crown in right of the Commonwealth and in right of each State or Territory in criminal proceedings. Crown Prosecutors are appointed not elected and not public servants; they are private...
in New South Wales and has held a commission as a Crown Prosecutor since 1990. She came to prominence when she prosecuted a series of highly publicised pedophiles and several notable gang rape and murder trials. Notable cases prosecuted by Cunneen include:
- Bilal SkafBilal SkafBilal Skaf is a serial gang rapist who led groups of Lebanese Australian men who committed gang rape attacks against women in 2000....
. - Robert 'Dolly' DunnRobert 'Dolly' DunnRobert Joseph "Dolly" Dunn was an Australian convicted child molester. He was a school teacher by profession, working for the Marist Brothers, a Catholic religious order....
- Michael GuiderMichael GuiderMichael Guider is an Australian pedophile who has been imprisoned on charges of pedophilia and manslaughter.-Early life:Michael Guider was born on 20 October 1950, in the city of Melbourne, Victoria. He and his mother moved to Sydney in 1952. His mother had an unstable relationship with an army...
- Pedophiles, Colin Fisk and Phillip Bell
- Rapist, Quoc Vinh To.
- The "K" Brothers
- Michael Kanaan for the shooting of a police officer
- William Matheson for the murder of Disney cartoonist Lyndsay van Blanken
- The killers of Sydney solicitor Thomas Williams
- Jeffrey Gilham, about whom the movie Blood Brothers, starring Lisa McCune, was made
- Graeme Reeves (the so-called Butcher of Bega).
In October 2007 she was appointed as Senior Counsel after being turned down on five previous occasions and her peers at the Bar have elected her as one of 21 members of the Bar Council.
In April 2007 The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Cunneen had been removed as prosecutor in the trial of an alleged gang rapist after all three appeal judges found there would be a perception of unfairness if she acted in the case. This was because she had spoken publicly about the case, although without naming it and speaking only in reference to the 7 year delay in concluding it, during the Sir Ninian Stephen
Ninian Stephen
Sir Ninian Martin Stephen, is a retired politician and judge, who served as the 20th Governor-General of Australia and as a Justice in the High Court of Australia.-Early life:...
Lecture in 2005 at Newcastle University
University of Newcastle, Australia
The University of Newcastle is an Australian public university that was established in 1965. The University's main and largest campus is located in Callaghan, a suburb of Newcastle in New South Wales...
. Cunneen's lecture was described by Justice David Levine as "the most articulate commentary on the criminal justice system, in my opinion".[9] The decision to remove her was criticised by the New South Wales Bar Association,
however it was not appealed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
In 2010, Cunneen as a private citizen, gave character evidence for Brett Stewart, referring to his having campaigned in New Guinea against violence towards women, in Sydney's District Court in his trial after an allegation of sexual assault. Stewart was found not guilty by the jury in under an hour's deliberation.