Professor Felicity Gerry QC is an international QC at Libertas Chambers, London and Crockett Chambers, Melbourne, largely defending in serious and complex criminal trials and appeals, often with an international element. She was Solicitor’s Journal Legal Personality of the Year 2016 and Australian Barrister of the Year 2020. She is listed in the Legal 500 as a leading silk and recommended as “fearless and independent minded” and  “at the forefront of the development of criminal law. She is a true inspiration to junior lawyers. She is a leader in her field. Clients feel she will fight their corner at every stage of a case.”

Admitted to the list of counsel for the International Criminal Court and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague and in England & Wales and in Australia (Victoria and the High Court Roll) and has had ad hoc admission in Hong Kong and Gibraltar. She led the appeal in R v Jogee in the UK Supreme Court which was described by the BBC as a ‘moment of genuine legal history’ and she led the intervention for JUSTICE in the Shamima Begum Appeals. Felicity is one of the few women silks to defend in a terrorism trial and led a team of academics and practitioners who were given leave to file an Amicus Curiae brief in the ICTY on JCEIII liability. She has also advised in relation to death penalty matters in Indonesia and the Philippines, on citizens held in Syrian camps and on complicity in international criminal cases.

Felicity is Honorary Professor at Salford University in the School of Health and Society where her research focus is on Autism and criminal law, FGM law and Child Rights. She is also Professor of Legal Practice at Deakin University where she is unit chair for MLL419/MLJ728 Contemporary International Legal Challenges – topics have included Modern Slavery, Terrorism, War Crimes and Climate Change law – and is involved in the clinical programs. 

Felicity has appeared in the BAFTA nominated FGM documentary The Cruel Cut and ABC Foreign Correspondent’s documentary Saving Mary Jane and BBC 3 Series ‘Sex on the Edge’ , Channel 5 April Jones Murder documentary, Channel 5 Sarah Payne Documentary and on all major news channels including ABC, BBC, Sky News, Russia Today and Al Jazeera.

Felicity has led or contributed to a number of research projects and Government submissions. She currently leads an ICJV project on defences for human trafficking victims who commit crime. Her ongoing (but small) pro bono Indigenous Justice and Exoneration Project has had significant impact assisting Indigenous prisoners serving over 10 years, one of whom was featured in the Zak Grieve Documentary and was the subject of a successful petition for mercy. Her co-authored reports for Lexis Nexis on Women in Prison were described as ‘the most important since Corston’. 

Felicity  is  a contributing author to the Research Handbook on Feminist Engagement with International Law (2019) and Annotated Leading Cases of International Tribunals ICTY (2019) and Access to Justice for Vulnerable People.  (2018), Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery (Law and Practice), Bloomsbury (2018 2nd Ed forthcoming), Human Trafficking: Emerging Legal Issues and Applications Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company (2017) and European Integration and Democracy Series, devoted to transatlantic data privacy relations as a challenge for democracy, Intersentia (2017) and Co-Author of The Sexual Offences Handbook , (third edition forthcoming). She has published articles on a range of topics in her research areas, most recently on Game Theory and Human Trafficking. Her paper on Human Trafficking, Drug Trafficking and the Death Penalty was chosen as the Editor’s Choice for Indonesian Law Review at the 2nd Law Scholars Writing Colloquium in Jakarta at Universitas Indonesia.

In addition to her roles at Deakin University and Salford University, Felicity has provided training / CPD and presented at conferences on a range of legal issues ranging from War Crimes, Terrorism, Modern Slavery, Human Trafficking and Combatting FGM as well as the use of technology in legal practice. She moderated the Monsah Women, Peace and Security in Afghanistan events and the ANU G20 gender equality summit event on women’s participation in employment. She had provided training to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Modern Slavery Project and the Bangladesh Judiciary Management Project and has developed a teaching module for UNODC on the linkages between human trafficking, smuggling of migrants and cybercrime. She is an Ambassador for International Social Services Australia and  The Advocate’s Gateway (UK). She is author, co-author and contributor to a range of books and other publications. Her chapter on vulnerable witnesses and parties in civil proceedings in Addressing Vulnerability in Justice Systems (published 2016) was described as “such a broadly comprehensive chapter on the subject of vulnerability within the legal system that it could stand as a practitioners’ potted guide in itself”.