Margaret Cunneen

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Margaret Cunneen is an Australian barrister and prosecutor. She was born Margaret Mary Cunneen on January 15, 1959 at St. Margaret's Hospital in Darlinghurst, Australia, the daughter of John and Catherine Cunneen.[citation needed] Cunneen lives in Sydney, New South Wales. She has three sons.[1][2]

Cunneen grew up in the south western suburbs of Sydney, was educated at Santa Sabina College, Strathfield and joined the Attorney General's Ministerial Office in 1977. She received her law degrees from the NSW Institute of Technology [University of Technology Sydney: 1982 UTS: Law Graduates]and Masters from Sydney University became a barrister in 1982. She is currently Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor (NSW) and has held a commission as a Crown Prosecutor since 1990. She came to prominence when she prosecuted a series of highly publicised pedophiles and several notable gang rape trials, including the trial of Bilal Skaf. She has also prosecuted many major murder trials.[3] In October 2007 she was appointed as Senior Counsel after being turned down on five previous occasions [1]and her peers at the Bar have elected her as one of only 21 members of the prestigious Bar Council.[4]

In April 2007 The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Cunneen had been removed as prosecutor in the trial of an alleged gang rapist after three appeal judges found there would be a perception of unfairness if she acted in the case[5]. This was because she had spoken publicly about the case, although without naming it and speaking only in reference to the 7 year delay in concluding it, during the Sir Ninian Stephen Lecture in 2005 at Newcastle University, described by the Dean of the Law School as "one of the best ever". The decision to remove her was criticised by the New South Wales Bar Association[6], however it was not appealed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. Template:ABC radio Law Report

[edit] References

  1. ^ Barrowclough, Nikki. "unknown", Good Weekend, Fairfax, 2004-04-24. 
  2. ^ Cunneen, Margaret. "unknown", Letter to the editor, Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 2004-04-24. 
  3. ^ Gibbs, Stephen. "Rapist out of sight but not out of mind.", Sydney Morning Herald, 2003-08-02. Retrieved on 2007-04-10. 
  4. ^ Appointment as Senior Counsel. The Law Report, Radio National. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
  5. ^ Jacobsen, Geesche. "Accused rapist cleared after prosecutor barred", The Sydney Morning Herald, April 21 2007, pp. 3. Retrieved on 2007-04-20. 
  6. ^ "Colleagues defend barred prosecutor", The Sydney Morning Herald, April 23 2007. Retrieved on 2007-04-23.