Michael D Stanton SC | Victorian Bar

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About
Publications

Date of Admission:

12 Dec 2003

First Signed Bar Roll:

22 Nov 2007

Date Appointed Silk:

08 Aug 2024

Division of Bar Roll:

Victorian Practising Counsel

Qualifications:

BA (Hons) LLB (Hons) (ANU) LLM (LSE)

Previous Occupation:

Associate to the Honourable Justice Maxwell, President of the Court of Appeal; Associate to the Honourable Justice Charles; Researcher to the Court of Appeal; Duty Lawyer at Victoria Legal Aid.

Profile:

Michael practises in criminal and administrative law.

He has appeared in a wide range of matters, including conviction and sentence appeals before the Court of Appeal, Royal Commissions and inquests. He was a consultant to the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants.

He was junior counsel for an appellant in Tony Strickland (a pseudonym) & Ors v Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (2018) 266 CLR 325, and for the accused in the retrial of David Eastman.

Michael was counsel for an appellant in Victoria's first guideline judgment, Boulton & Ors v The Queen (2014) 46 VR 308.

He has appeared in supervision order matters including Nigro & Ors v Secretary to the Department of Justice (2013) 41 VR 359 and Owen Daniel (a pseudonym) v Secretary to the Department of Justice (2015) 45 VR 266.

Michael has a particular interest in the operation and effect of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic), having completed his Masters in Human Rights Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science after receiving a Chevening Scholarship. He is the President of Liberty Victoria and a member of the National Criminal Law Committee of the Law Council of Australia.

He has a background in social work, having been employed for six years as a youth and disability worker whilst he completed his tertiary studies, where he received first class honours in both Arts and Law at the Australian National University.

Michael read with Christopher Winneke KC. He is a member of the Victoria Legal Aid Criminal Trial Preferred Barrister List and holds an Indictable Crime Certificate.

He is a co-chair of the Health and Wellbeing Committee.

Publications:

'Instruments of Injustice: The Emergence of Mandatory Sentencing in Victoria' (2022) 48(2) Monash University Law Review 1

https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/journal_contribution/Instruments_of_Injustic…

Download Stanton - Instruments of Injustce (MonULR).pdf (1.02 MB)

Over the past decade, sentencing law in the State of Victoria has been transformed. Through legislation enacted by both Coalition and Labor governments, and notwithstanding strong opposition from the legal profession, a mechanism for presumptive sentencing was introduced, expanded, and incrementally hardened. New offences attracting presumptive sentences have been created, exceptions have been made more difficult to satisfy, and for some offences imprisonment is now mandatory. Over this period the courts have wrestled with the correct methodological approach to the new regime and its consequences. This article sets out the pitfalls of presumptive and mandatory sentencing, examines the legislative reforms and emerging jurisprudence, and considers how the sentencing discretion of judicial officers has been systematically eroded and then removed.

'A Tale of Two Forms of Protest: The Legality of Protest in Victoria in the Time of COVID-19' (2021) 10(1) Victoria University Law and Justice Journal, 51–76.

https://vulj.vu.edu.au/index.php/vulj/article/view/1227

Download 1227-Article Text-4312-2-10-20221208.pdf (125.01 KB)

Written with Julia Kretzenbacher and Martin Radzaj. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered extraordinary legislative and executive responses across the globe. In 2020, the Victorian Government used, for the first time, powers in the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic) to impose significant restrictions on the freedoms of the public. This article considers the powers to make directions under the Victorian regime and the potential relevance of the implied freedom of political communication in the Australian Constitution and the human rights protected by the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic). We conclude that some forms of protest activity may have remained lawful during the Victorian lockdowns, although the purpose of the protest activity and the manner of protest may be relevant considerations when adopting a Charter-consistent interpretation of the statutory provisions.

'Pause for thought? The case for reversing the abolition of De Novo criminal appeals' (2021) 169 Victorian Bar News, 46-48.

Download De Novo Appeals (Stanton and Smallwood).pdf (542.77 KB)

Written with Paul Smallwood, arguing for the Victorian Government to reverse its decision to abolish de novo criminal appeals from the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria to the County Court of Victoria.

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards legislation. The information referred to above has been supplied by the barrister concerned. Neither Victorian Bar Inc nor the barrister's clerk have independently verified the accuracy or completeness of the information and neither accepts any responsibility in that regard.

Clerk

Foley's List Pty Ltd

+61 3 9225 7777

foleys@foleys.com.au

Area of Practice

Criminal Law
- Proceeds of Crime
- Mental Illness
- Appellate
Public Law & Administrative Law
- Judicial Review
- Human Rights Law
- Civil Liberties
Inquests, Inquiries, Tribunals & Commissions
- Coronial Inquests

Jurisdictions

Australian Capital Territory