KATRINA CURRY

SEVENTH FLOOR GARFIELD BARWICK CHAMBERS

LEVEL 7, 53 MARTIN PLACE SYDNEY

Ph: 9224 5600 Email:

PRACTICE AREAS

  • Criminal Law (Commonwealth & State)
  • White collar crime and Tax and Revenue Fraud
  • Public and Administrative Law
  • Appellate

QUALIFICATIONS

2015Master of Laws, The University of Sydney Specialising in criminal and administrative law

2006Bachelor of Laws, The University of Newcastle

Awarded University prize for first place in Constitutional Law

2004Bachelor of Arts (Communication Studies), The University of Newcastle

Majoring in Journalism

ADMISSIONS

2018Barrister, New South Wales

2006Solicitor, Supreme Court of New South Wales

LEGAL CAREER SUMMARY

2016-2018Registrar NSW Court of Criminal Appeal & Supreme Court Crime

2007-2016Federal Prosecutor, Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions

2006Legal Policy Advisor, The Department of the Prime Minister & Cabinet

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

2018Member of the NSW Law Society Public Law Committee

2018Mentor, NSW Law Society’s Women’s Mentoring Programme

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Registrar Court of Criminal Appeal & Supreme Court NSW

  • Responsibility for the running of operations in the Court of Criminal Appeal and Supreme Court bail jurisdiction.
  • Exercising delegated powers of the Supreme Court and presiding in Court to manage appeals and determine applications in the Court of Criminal Appeal.
  • Conducting Court of Criminal Appeal direction hearings.
  • Conducting a weekly callover and managing the Supreme Court bail jurisdiction.
  • Providing advice and procedural information to legal practitioners and litigants.
  • Providing technical, legal and operational assistance to the Judiciary.

Senior Federal Prosecutor,Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions

Advocacy

  • Supreme Court: Appearing in direction hearings and the arraignment list.
  • District Court: Appearing in appeals, sentences, bail applications and the arraignment list.
  • Local Court: Appearing in bail applications, sentences, committal hearings, summary hearings, cost applications, annulment applications and lists.

Legal Advice

  • Responsibility for a complex tax fraud, money laundering and corporations offence practice with matters in the Local, District and Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeal.
  • Analysing briefs of evidence and providing advice in accordance with the Prosecution Policy regarding whether there is a prima facie case, reasonable prospects of conviction, and consideration of any public interest matters.
  • Analysing and preparing complex Operation Wickenby matters for committal, trial and appeal and instructing counsel in those matters.
  • Actively engaging in charge negotiations and providing advice regarding the appropriate charges.
  • Liaising with client agencies, including ASIC, ATO, ACC, AFP and NSW Police, in relation to the conduct of matters and providing advice on the direction of investigations and the sufficiency of evidence.
  • Drafting indictments, CANS and written submissions on sentence, bail and appeal.

Training & CLE Delivery

  • Delivered training on Commonwealth prosecutions and investigations to Commonwealth investigators in June 2007.
  • Presented at the CDPP/ATO tax conference in August 2007.
  • Devised a disclosure management tool for use by the ATO and delivered training on its implementation at ATO offices nationally in February 2008.
  • Delivered training on the use ofsurveillance devices to theAFP in May 2008.
  • Delivered disclosure training to AFMA in July 2008.
  • Delivered CLE to CDPP lawyers on the successful tax trial R v Sakovits in March 2013.
  • Drafted the Disclosure Toolkit guide for CDPP lawyers and delivered CLE to launch the guide in March 2014.
  • Presented to the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce in November 2015.
  • Presented to the Supreme Court of NSW Registry on the Supreme Court Bail jurisdiction in March 2016.

Notable Cases

  • R v Boughen; R v Cameron [2012] NSWCCA 17 – instructed Chris Craigie SC (as his Honour then was).
  • Sakovits v R [2014] NSWCCA 109 – instructed Sarah McNaughton SC in both the appeal and preceding Supreme Court trial.
  • Pratten v R [2014] NSWCCA117 – instructed Des Fagan SC (as his Honour then was) in the appeal and Michael McHugh SC in the Supreme Court retrial.
  • R v Afiouny [2014] NSWCCA 176 – instructed Robert Bromich SC (as his Honour then was).
  • R v Seller; R v McCarthy [2015] NSWCCA 76 – instructed Des Fagan SC in the appeal and Paul McGuire SC in the Supreme Court trial.

Legal Policy Advisor,Department of the Prime Minister Cabinet

  • Drafting legal adviceto the Prime Minister on areas such as Constitutional change, legislative reform and new policy proposals.
  • Drafting Cabinet and Question Time briefings for the Prime Minister and ministerial correspondence.
  • Reviewing and commenting on new legislation, penalty provisions and Cabinet Submissions.
  • Representing the department at Inter-Departmental Committees.
  • Giving advice on procurement and contract management to the Department.
  • Coordinating the Department’s appearance at Senate Estimate Hearings.

Legal Clerk, NSW Director of Public Prosecutions

  • Drafting election advisings to determine jurisdiction and advising police as to appropriate charges.
  • Assisting in trial preparation, legal research and case analysis.
  • Drafting Pre and Post committal reports.
  • Instructing counsel in trials.

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