Riyad El-Choufani

Admitted as a legal practitioner in 2009
​Admitted as a barrister in 2019


Principal areas of Practice

• Criminal law
• Criminal appeals
• Commissions of inquiry and inquests
• Disciplinary proceedings
• Regulatory offences
• Administrative and public law

Professional background

• 2016 to 2019: Solicitor (Trial) Advocate, Legal Aid NSW

• 2016: Committals, Legal Aid NSW (Newcastle office)
• 2015: Criminal Indictable Solicitor, Legal Aid NSW (Sydney Office)
• 2012 to 2015: Local Court, Committal and Indictable Solicitor, Legal Aid NSW (Penrith Office)
• 2010 to 2012: Solicitor, Nyman Gibson Stewart Lawyers

Prizes & Recognitions

• 2019: Peteris Ginters Prize – awarded for the highest score in the June 2019 ethics bar exam
• 2015 to 2019: NSW Law Society Accredited Specialist in criminal law

Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor of Laws (Hons) & Arts – Macquarie University

Publications, Papers & Presentations

• 2015 to 2017 – Criminal Law Practical Guidance (“Summary Proceedings” and “Committal Proceedings”), Lexis Nexis
• Advocacy Training for Junior Solicitors – 2019 & 2018 Sydney office, Legal Aid NSW; 2018 Liverpool office, Legal Aid NSW
• Mission Impossible? Excluding Admissions to Police – 2019 Criminal Law Conference, Legal Aid NSW
• Judicial Fact-Finding on Sentence – 2018 Criminal Law Conference, Legal Aid NSW
• Going the Dog: s 23 Assistance – 2017 Criminal Law Conference, Legal Aid NSW
• Fitness in the Local Court: Legal Analysis– 2015 Criminal Law Conference, Legal Aid NSW
• Suspended Sentences: Breach Proceedings and the Consequences of Revocation – 2017 Sydney office, Legal Aid NSW; 2014 Criminal Law Conference, Legal Aid NSW, and; 2012 Penrith office, Legal Aid NSW

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Before coming to the bar, Riyad appeared as the Solicitor-Advocate in District Court jury and judge-alone trials, sentences, fitness hearings and appeals. He also appeared in complex Local Court summary and committal hearings, sentences, bail and section 32 applications. He was led by Richard Wilson SC in R v Mercury [2019] NSWSC 81 where the court considered, inter alia, the application of s 13 of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 (NSW) to events that pre-dated its enactment. The trial judge ultimately excluded a crucial murder confession which culminated in the Crown no-billing the proceedings.  


For further details or enquiries regarding Riyad El-Choufani’s areas of expertise, fees and terms of engagement please contact his Clerk.

CONTACT HERE