Contact

Cahal Fairfield

barrister

Admitted

1999

Bar

1999

Cahal Fairfield

Email

cahalfairfield@vicbar.com.au

Phone

(03) 9225 7666

Mobile

0427 650 777

Chambers

Owen Dixon Chambers West

ABOUT

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Cahal is an experienced advocate and has been a member of the Victorian Bar since 1999.  He has a broad practice but practises principally in criminal and administrative law.  He is the holder of an Indictable Crime Certificate and is on the Criminal Trial Preferred Barrister List of Victoria Legal Aid.  He is a member of the Criminal, Migration and Industrial Law Bar Associations.  He is a Committee Member of the Migration Law Bar Association and is its current membership officer. 

For the past 20 years he has instructed at the Leo Cussen Centre for Law in Melbourne in administrative law.  He has delivered a number of papers on FOI, statutory interpretation, and judicial review.  He is also a regular reviewer for the Law Institute Journal. 

He was for three years an elected member of the Victorian Bar Council.  He is a strong adherent of pro bono work and has served on the Bar’s Pro Bono Committee.

More details about Cahal

Admission

14 April 1999

Signed Bar Roll

18 November 1999

Admitted to Practice

Victoria

Chambers

Owen Dixon Chambers West
525 Lonsdale St
Melbourne VIC 3000

Notable Cases

Cases in which he has appeared include:

  • Kwatra v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs [2021] FCA  58
  • CDPP v Gerathy [2018] VSC 255 (false accounting);  CDPP v Gerathy [2018] VSC 289 (false accounting);
  • VBAO v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs [2006] 233 CLR1
  • Sok v MIMIA [2005] FCAFC 56;
  • Applicant M169 of 2003 v MIMIA [2004] FCAFC 311;
  • Applicant M164/2002 v MIMIA [2006] FCAFC 16;
  • VNAA v MIMIA [2004] FCAFC 134
  • Ismail v Rustom [2009] VSC 625
  • Zion-Shalom v Magistrates Court of Victoria [2009] VSC 476
  • Priest v Deputy State Coroner [2010] VSC 449
  • Psychologists Registration Board of Victoria v G [2010] VCAT 1927
  • Jia v Minister for Immigration [2011] FMCA 422
  • Priest v West [2012] VSCA 327
  • MZYYC v Minister for Immigration [2013] FCCA 1769
  • Miles v Commissioner of Patents [2014] FCAFC 109.
  • MZZQY v Minister for Immigration [2015] FCCA 262
  • Fernando v Minister for Immigration [2016] FCCA 409

Cahal has appeared in the following cases in the Supreme Court of Nauru:

  • CRI 018 v Republic of Nauru (Supreme Court of Nauru, Khan J, 15 December 2016)
  • MEG026 v Republic of Nauru (Supreme Court of Nauru, Khan J, 7 February 2017)

Core Practice Areas

Criminal

Technical Expertise

Appellate class=
Appellate
Criminal class=
Criminal
Industrial Employment class=
Industrial Employment
Public Administrative class=
Public Administrative

Availability

For further information about Cahal, including areas of practice, jurisdictions, availability and direct access, please contact our Clerks. 

Our clerking team provides responsive, practical support – assisting with availability, recommending suitable counsel and facilitating briefing arrangements. They work closely with instructing solicitors and clients to ensure the right Barrister is engaged efficiently and with confidence.

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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.
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