Robert Stary is a former
Australian criminal defence lawyer and current Magistrate at the
Melbourne Magistrates' Court.
He is well known for defending
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army inte ...
, as well as
Jack Thomas, the first Australian to be convicted under anti-terrorism laws introduced in Australia after the
11 September 2001 terror attacks in the
United States. Stary has been a vocal critic of the legislation and speaks out regularly against the issue.
As such, he is often the go-to lawyer for Australian terror suspects. Stary is also famous for his defence of powerful Melbourne underground figures Tony Mokbel and Carl Williams.
Early life and education
Robert Stary grew up in the western suburbs of Melbourne, and attended
St John's College, Braybrook and the
University of Melbourne where he studied law from 1977 to 1980, and graduated with a
Bachelor of Laws degree. Whilst studying, Stary co-founded the Western Suburbs Legal Service with Peter Gordon, and was involved in a number of socialist political groups.
Legal career
After graduation, Stary gained a position as a solicitor at Victoria Legal Aid, practicing in criminal law. He later worked for and became a partner in the prominent Australian law firm
Slater and Gordon. He established his own practice in 1995, Robert Stary Lawyers, which became Stary Norton Halphen in 2015, one of the leadin
criminal lawyers in Melbourne During his career, Stary also helped found the Western Suburbs Legal Service.
[
Stary has also appeared on an advertisement authorised by the ACTU calling for employees in the construction industry to be governed by the same laws as other workers. More recently, he has appeared in court on behalf of those charged as a result of certain incidents during the West Gate Bridge industrial dispute. In those proceedings, he urged that Industrial Relations ]Minister
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...
be charged with contempt of court
Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...
over "inflammatory" and "calculated" remarks she made at an ACTU Congress in Brisbane.[ Victorian Magistrate Mr Muling found that he was not persuaded to charge Ms Gillard with contempt, nor refer her to the DPP.
Stary also represented crime underworld figure Carl Williams before Williams was beaten to death in Barwon Prison on 19 April 2010. Stary heavily criticised ]Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
John Brumby's refusal to call a Royal Commission inquiry into the death.
See also
*Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005
The ''Anti-Terrorism Act 2005'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, which is intended to hamper the activities of any potential terrorists in the country. The counter-terrorism law was passed on 6 December 2005.
Background
Hi ...
References
External links
Stary Norton Halphen - Criminal Law Specialists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stary, Rob
Living people
Australian people of Hungarian descent
Lawyers from Melbourne
Year of birth missing (living people)