Felicity Gerry Q.C.

Felicity Gerry QC is admitted at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) in The Hague, to the Bar of England & Wales and the Victorian Bar, Australia. She has also had ad hoc admission in Hong Kong and Gibraltar. As an international QC she is regularly called upon to handle serious, complex and sensitive trials and appeals at every level of court. Her cases and advisory work involve two core themes:

• Criminal Responsibility and human rights.
• Corporate Responsibility and human rights.

Felicity holds a PhD, a Master of Laws in International Governance (LLM Int Gov), a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), and a Graduate Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (GCUTL). She is Professor of Legal Practice at Deakin University, Melbourne where she is Unit Chair in the undergraduate and JD programs teaching ‘Contemporary International Legal Challenges’ – including War Crimes, ‘Modern Slavery’, Terrorism and Art Law and she is involved in the clinical programs. She is also an Honorary Professor in the School of Health and Society at Salford University, researching the intersection between health, law and education, particularly in Autism, FGM and Child Rights.

Felicity specialises in International Criminal Law, Terrorism, Homicide and Modern Slavery Law as well as business and human rights issues. She has recently led in two major matters relating to investment in Myanmar. She is well known for leading the appeal R v Jogee [2016] UKSC 8 which corrected an error of law in complicity which was described by the BBC as a ‘genuine moment of legal history’. She has led teams of academics and practitioners in the ICTY on JCEIII liability, and in the ICC in the non-punishment principle. She has appeared as leading counsel in several jurisdictions including the UK Supreme Court, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, and the Australian High Court. Experienced in death penalty cases and petitions for mercy.

Felicity has consulted for the UNODC and various NGOs. She has a long history of training professionals: This includes prosecutors in Rwanda on human trafficking, gender-based violence and corruption law as part of the Bridges to Justice Project; The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Modern Slavery Project and the Bangladesh Judiciary Management Project. Her policy submissions have led to changes in the law on Modern Slavery, FGM and Reproductive Rights and currently support approaches to Afghanistan post withdrawal. She led a death penalty study for the Commission of Human Rights for the Philippines and previously led a four -year project on Women in Prison for Halsbury’s Law Exchange (part of the Lexis Nexis group) and a small Indigenous Justice and Exoneration Project.

Felicity is widely published in the fields of, women and law, technology and law and reforming justice systems. She is co-author of The Sexual Offences Handbook and contributes to Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals, the Research Handbook on Feminist Engagement in International Law, Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Law and Practice and is the Editor of ANZSIL Perspective.

She was Lawyers Weekly Barrister of the Year 2020 and Solicitors Journal Legal Personality of the Year 2016 and has been recognised in the Legal 500 as a leading silk and as “Fearless and independent minded”. She has appeared in BAFTA and LOGIE nominated FGM documentaries and on all major news channels.