PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Jay Williams was a barrister of the New South Wales Bar Association and was a practitioner of the High Court of Australia and Federal Court of Australia from 2012 to 2022. Jay’s practice focused on human rights law, constitutional and administrative law, refugee law, criminal law, indigenous law, environmental law and public international law. Prior to coming to the Bar, Jay practiced as a solicitor of the NSW Supreme Court and an academic, holding a Master of Law and Legal Practice, with a major in Human Rights, International Law and the Environment at the University of Technology, Sydney and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne with a major in Political Science, Critical Theory and International Relations. With a primary focus on human rights law, Jay has been involved in several test cases before the High Court of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia, various public policy research projects and has been published by leading peer reviewed journals, including the International Journal of Human Rights.

In terms of major cases, Jay worked with a team who prevented the death sentence being imposed against two Australians in Vietnam. Jay has worked on many hundreds of refugee cases in Afghanistan, Cambodia, the Congo, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nauru, the Occupied Territories of Palestine, Pakistan, PNG, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka South America, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Vietnam. Jay has also worked on major criminal matters, involving organised crime, terrorism, arms and narcotics. Jay has also worked on major native title matters in Australia. Over the last decade, Jay was a participant of the Human Rights Council of Australia concerning immigration detention Nauru and PNG. Participants included the Australian Human Rights Commission, Amnesty lnternational, the Australian Red Cross, the lnternational Commission of Jurists, the Human Rights Law Centre, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Law Council of Australia and the Refugee Advice and Casework Services.

GENERAL PRACTICE AREAS  

Constitutional & Administrative Law

Criminal Law

Civil Law

Corporate and Commercial Law

Employment & Industrial

Equal Opp. & Discrimination Law

Planning & Local Govt

Personal Injury

Sports Law

SPECIALIST PRACTICE AREAS  

Human Rights Law

Native Title and Indigenous Law

International Law: Public & Private

International Criminal Law

International Environmental Law

International Trade Law

Immigration and Refugee Law

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TERTIARY EDUCATION

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Master of Law and Legal Practice

Major in International Law

University of Technology Sydney

Bachelor of Arts

Major: Political Science & Social Theory

University of Melbourne

PROFESSIONAL ADMISSIONS

2012: Barrister of the High Court of Australia 

2012: Barrister of the Australian/NSW Bar Association

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2011: Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia

MAJOR CASES

Plaintiff S195/2016 v Minster for Immigration and Border Protection, application to show cause and Writ of Habeas Corpus on behalf of a refugee detained at Manus Island Regional Processing Centre, PNG, lead by Tom Molomby SC.

Plaintiff CPCF v Minister for Immigration & Anor, - Application to Show Cause, Writ of Habeas Corpus on behalf of 153 Tamil Returnees detained on Australian Border Protection Vessel on the high seas, lead by Ron Merkel QC.

Plaintiff S99 of 2014 v Minister for Immigration (Cth) & Ors – Application to Show Cause and Writ of Habeas Corpus, on behalf of 900 refugees at the Manus Ilsand RPC, PNG, lead by Ron Merkel QC.

Plaintiff S156 v Minister for Immigration and Border Proection, Application to Show Cause and Writ of Habeas Corpus, on behalf of a refugee at the Manus Island RPC, PNG, lead by Mark Robinson SC.

R v RSS - Appeal Against Conviction - miscarriage of justice - Junior to Chrissa Loukas SC - Court of Criminal Appeal NSW.

R v Ryan, Appeal Against Sentence – manifestly excessive - Junior to Ian Barker QC - Court of Criminal Appeal NSW.

DPP v Lane – 2 month Murder Trial - Junior to Anne Healey - Supreme Court of NSW.

R v Darren Robert Naden – Sentencing – drug misuse and trafficking - Junior to Graham Turnbull SC – District Court of NSW.

INTERNATIONAL CASES

2017 - Prosecutor v Cassandra Sainsbury, Supreme Court of Colombia, drug trafficking, 5.8 kilograms of cocaine.

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Prosecutor v Zakhariev, Surpeme Court of Bulgaria, terror charges.

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Prosecutor v Tirris, Supreme Court of Hungary, drug trafficking.

2016 - The Socialist Republic of Vietnam v NAJJ, Australian facing criminal charges of trafficking 3.4 kilograms of heroin, death sentence matter before the Supreme Peoples’ Court of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, led Julian McMahon.

Henshaw v Secretary of Justice, Contempt of Court by the President and Minister for Justice, Surpeme Court of Nauru.

Republic of Nauru v Suspended MPs, charges of riot in Supreme Court of Nauru.

2015 - JHB & Ors v Secretary of Justice of the Republic of Nauru & Ors, Supreme Court of Nauru, Application to Show Cause and Writ of Habeas Corpus on behalf of 1500 refugees detained at the Nauru RPC, led by Julian Burnside QC. 

2014 - AG & Ors v Secretary of Justice of the Republic of Nauru, Supreme Court of Nauru, Application to Show Cause and Writ of Habeas Corpus, on behalf of 1500 refugees detained at the Nauru RPC led by Julian Burnside QC.

PUBLICATIONS

‘The International Campaign To Prohibit Child Soldiers - A Study on the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Rehabilitation of Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.’ (2011) 15 (7) International Journal of Human Rights, 1072-1090.

‘The Impact of Climate Change on Indigenous People – The Implications for the Cultural, Spiritual, Economic and Legal Rights of Indigenous People,’ (2012) 16(4) International Journal of Human Rights, 648-688.

‘The Right to Life and the ICCPR – Can Member States Reintroduce the Death Sentence After It Has Been Abolished?’ (2013) International Journal of Human Rights – Publication date pending.

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‘Ecocide’ – The Fifth Geneva Convention and the Establishment of an International Court for the Environment – A Critical Examination of the Protection of the Environment During Armed Conflict, (2013) International Journal of Human Rights - Publication date pending

‘The Violation of the Procedural and Substantive Rights of People with Disabilities’ – Case Studies by the Redfern Legal Centre for the UN Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities, (2010) Redfern Legal Centre.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

Academic Researcher for Associate Professor, Karen Bubna-Litic, in ‘Climate change impacts on the poor – a case study of Australia’s Indigenous population and the impact of Australia’s response on this population,’ IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Series.

Legal Researcher for Redfern Legal Centre - ‘The Violation of the Procedural and Substantive Rights of People with Disabilities’ – Case Studies by the Redfern Legal Centre for the Shadow Report on the Australian Government’s Implementation of the UN Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities, (2010) Redfern Legal Centre.

Research Coordinator – Shadow Report on the UN Convention of the Rights of Person with Disabilities. The Project Group is an umbrella group of the major disability groups in Australia who, along with DLA Phillips Fox submitted to the UN Disability Committee a Shadow Report on the Australian Government’s implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Researcher - The Social Impact of the Jabiluka and Ranger Uranium Mines on the Aboriginal People of the Kakadu and Arnhem Land Region – which involved a 5 year study on the traditional law, spirituality and culture of a remote Indigenous Tribe from Arnhem Land.

PRO BONO PRACTICE

Volunteer Barrister, Australians Facing Death Sentence in Vietnam.

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Volunteer Barrister, the Nauru and Manus Asylum Seeker and Refugee Project.

Volunteer Barrister, NSW Bar Association – Duty Barrister Scheme.

Volunteer Legal Assistant, Redfern Legal Centre.

Legal Researcher, Shadow Report UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities,

Researcher, Social Impact Study of the Jabiluka Uranium Mines on Kakadu National Park. 

AWARDS

The Fagar Award for International Environmental Law – Outstanding Achievement.

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The Thomson/Reuters Award for Indigenous People and the Law – Outstanding Achievement.