Lester Fernandez

BA LLM (UNSW)

Admitted as a legal practitioner in 1993
Admitted as a barrister in 2007

Lester Fernandez focuses on:

• Appeals to the Court of Criminal Appeal;
• Appeals from courts, tribunals and authorities to the Supreme Court;
• Supreme Court trials, particularly murder trials;
• Supreme Court sentences and bail applications;
• Supreme Court applications in a variety of criminal and quasi criminal matters;
• District Court trials, sentences and appeals.

 
In addition to his criminal practice, Lester also has a significant practice appearing in:

• Coronial inquests, as both Counsel Assisting and acting for interested parties;
• Professional disciplinary hearings in the Civil and Administrative Tribunal;
• A wide variety of Administrative law matters in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Lester has been a member of the Bar Association Criminal Law Committee since 2009. He is the Bar Association's representative to the Local Court of NSW.  Lester is also a member of the Bar Association’s Education Committee. 
 
Lester was awarded the Con Varnavas Award for first place in the February 2007 Bar Exams, and was awarded the Christopher Gee QC Memorial Prize for Advocacy and Evidence for the October 2007 Bar Practice Course.
 
Before coming to the Bar Lester was a solicitor for 13 years, which included 10 years at Legal Aid NSW. Lester was a Law Society of NSW Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law. He was Chair of the NSW Young Lawyers Criminal Law Committee, and a member of the Law Society Criminal Law Committee.
 
Lester was the Managing Editor of the award-winning second and third editions of “A Practitioner’s Guide to Criminal Law”. He has written/presented over 50 papers on a wide range of topics in criminal law. Lester is also a presenter and an advocacy instructor in the Bar Association’s Bar Practice Course.  Lester is also an instructor with the Australian Advocacy Institute. 

Selected list of cases

• R v XX [2017] NSWCCA 90 – a major case involving development of the law in relation to discounts for assistance to authorities. 

 

• R v Towney [2018] NSWCCA 65 – an appeal against conviction for murder involving directions as to elements in a murder case, and the order in which they are to be put.

 

• R v DJ and NS (2012) 84 NSWLR 758 (led by S Odgers SC) – 5 Judge Bench of the Court of Criminal Appeal involving coincidence evidence.

 

• R v Robert Xie (led by G Turnbull SC) – three Supreme Court trials ultimately ending in a hung jury, for a person charged with 5 counts of murder.

 

• Inquest into the death of Matthew Leveson – Counsel Assisting in an inquest in the Coroners Court, a case which made legal history, where a person acquitted of his partner’s murder was called to give evidence at an inquest into his partner’s death. 

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• Chen v NSW Crime Commission [2018] NSWCA 63 (led by B  Walker SC) - appeal to the Court of Appeal involving interpretation of the Criminal Assets Recovery Act. 
  
  

​For further details or enquiries regarding Lester Fernandez’s areas of expertise, fees and terms of engagement please contact his Clerk.

CONTACT HERE