Raphael de Vietri

Professional Background

Raphael appears in all criminal jurisdictions, including in jury trials and higher-court appeals. He has appeared as counsel in matters involving terrorism, organised crime, murder, sex offences, drug importation, major fraud, human exploitation, war crimes and military offences.

He also accepts briefs in regulatory and corporate prosecutions, including ASIC matters, environmental crime, aviation and fisheries offences, and WorkSafe prosecutions. 

He has particular expertise in federal criminal law, and can be briefed in matters pertaining to transnational crime and national security. He regularly represents members of the Australian Defence Force in military and civilian courts: e.g. Betts v Chief of Army [2017] ADFDAT 2; DPP v Morey [2020] VCC 320. He recently appeared in the Brereton Inquiry into Allegations of War Crimes by Australian Special Forces Soldiers in Afghanistan.

He has a special interest in criminal litigation involving human rights issues and has been counsel in several significant cases involving the Charter of Human Rights: e.g. Baker v DPP & Ors (2017) 270 A Crim R 318; DPP v Rayment (2018) 57 VR 622; and Richards v The Queen (No.2) (2017) 267 A Crim R 280.

His practice extends to quasi-criminal proceedings, including commissions of inquiry, corruption commissions, inquests, compulsory examinations, extradition, professional disciplinary proceedings, proceeds of crime applications, and administrative appeals with a criminal justice nexus. He is experienced in supervision order proceedings under the Serious Offender Act, and proceedings under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act.

He regularly appears in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.

Most recent appearances have included:

• DPP v SS (No.3) [2021] 1 - plea in the Supreme Court 
• DPP v SJW [2020] VSC 746 - as sole counsel for the defendant in a plea for drug offending and breaches of a Serious Violent Offender Supervision Order, where Supervision Order imposed for index offending of murder. 
• Camurtay v The Queen [2020] VSCA 221- as junior counsel in a successful appeal against conviction for rape, where there was a question about the fitness of the accused to stand trial. 
• Cano (a pseudonym) v The Queen [2020] VSCA 308 - as junior counsel for the applicant in an interlocutory appeal regarding the admissibility of tendency evidence. 
• Secretary to the Department of Justice and Community Safety v SS (Review) [2020] VSC 849
• Secretary to the Department of Justice and Community Safety v SS (No. 2) [2020] VSC 734 - as sole counsel for the defendant in a 4-day summary contest before a justice of the Supreme Court where the accused was charged with contravention of a Serious Violent Offender Supervision Order, where the index offending was murder. 
• Re MTE [2020] VSC 243 - as sole counsel for the respondent in a Serious Offender interim supervision order, where the index offending was murder, and where the respondent successfully resisted the imposition of an electronic alcohol monitoring bracelet condition. 
• Re MTE (No 2) [2020] VSC 356 - as sole counsel for the respondent in a post-sentence supervision order where the index offending was murder, conditions and duration contested. 
• Re MTE (No 3) [2020] VSC 646 - as sole counsel for the respondent in a post-sentence supervision order where the index offending was murder, where there was a dispute between parties about whether and to what extent the court should publish certain details. 
• Re SS [2020] VSC 618 - as sole counsel for the applicant in an application for bail, where the accused was arrested on breach of a post-sentence Supervision Order imposed for index offending of murder. 
• Secretary to the Department of Justice and Community Safety v SJW [2020] VSC 503 - as sole counsel for the respondent in an application for a post-sentence supervision order, where the index offending was murder.
• Re KN [2020] VSC 35 – as sole counsel in a successful Supreme Court bail application.
• DPP v Reed [2020] VCC 1316 – plea, theft of a firearm.
• DPP(Cth) v Hough [2020] VCC 1534 – plea, importation of a marketable quantity of border controlled drugs and trafficking.
• DPP(Cth) v Sioli [2020] VCC 1607 – plea, taxation fraud of $101K.
• Director of Military Prosecutions v Pilot Officer 'C' RMJ No. 2020-019-DFM - defence counsel in a trial by Defence Force Magistrate, where the accused was charged with intentionally making false statements in connection with a Defence Force benefit; acquitted on primary charges, convicted on lesser statutory alternatives (recklessness). 

Other notable cases include:

• Shiel v The Queen (2017) 271 A Crim R 146 – as lead counsel in a successful appeal against sentence for a $1.5m banking fraud.
• Dennis v The Queen [2017] VSCA 251 – as lead counsel in a successful appeal against sentence for child exploitation offending.
• Jowett v The Queen [2017] VSCA 358 – as lead counsel in a sentence appeal for sexual offending.
• Meadows v The Queen [2017] VSCA 290 – as lead counsel in a sentence appeal regarding commonwealth sentencing and issues of mental impairment (Verdins).
• Nicholls v The Queen [2017] HCASL 316 - as junior counsel in an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia.
• Secretary DJCS v ST [2019] VSC 722 - as sole counsel representing the first person in Victoria to be placed on a Serious Violent Offender Supervision Order with an Intensive Treatment Condition.
• Re Meadows [2017] VSCA 294 – as sole counsel in a successful application for appeal bail.
• DPP v Za Lian & Anor. [2019] VSCA 75 – as junior counsel in a successful defence of a Director’s Appeal against current sentencing practices for stranger rape.
• Wilson v The Queen [2018] VSCA 219 - as junior counsel in an appeal against sentence for serious arson offences.
• Carter (a pseudonym) v The Queen [2018] VSCA 88 – as junior counsel in an appeal against sentence for historical incest offending.
• Gillespie (a pseudonym) v The Queen [2018] VSCA 151 – as junior counsel in an appeal against sentence for a female sexual offender.
• DPP(Cth) v Boyles (a Pseudonym) [2016] VSCA 267 – as junior counsel in a successful defence of a Commonwealth Director’s Appeal against sentence for online offending.
• Richards (a Pseudonym) v The Queen [2017] VSCA 57 – as junior counsel in a successful application for appeal bail.
• Re JM [2019] VSC 156 – as sole counsel in a successful Supreme Court bail application.
• Re Blencowe [2017] VSC 273 – as sole counsel in a successful Supreme Court bail application.
• Re Johnstone [No 2] [2018] VSC 803 – as junior counsel in a successful bail appeal.
• Re CWE (No.2) [2019] VSC 660 - as sole counsel in a plea for a breach of a Serious Violent Offender Supervision Order. 

Prior to being called to the bar, Raphael was an Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, and gained 9 years of experience as a solicitor-advocate. He was the Senior Advocate (Appeals and Indictable Crime) at Victoria Legal Aid, an Associate Public Defender at VLA Chambers, Senior Federal Prosecutor at the Commonwealth DPP, and a Solicitor at the Office of Public Prosecution’s Specialist Sex Offences Unit. He also interned at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former-Yugoslavia in The Hague, where he worked in the Appeals Team in the Office of the Prosecutor on the case of Prosecutor v. Momcilo Perisic (IT-04-81-A).

Raphael has a part-time appointment as Lecturer in Law & Criminology at La Trobe University Law School, where he teaches Criminal Law, Evidence and Criminal Procedure, as well as occasional electives in Federal Criminal Law and Border Protection Law. 

He holds an LLB and BA(Hons) majoring in Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations from the University of Western Australia. He obtained a Masters of Law (Public International Law) and graduate qualifications in Military Law and Legal Practice from the Australian National University. 

He is commissioned as a legal officer (Lieutenant) in the Royal Australian Navy, and has served as the Honorary Vice-Consul for the Republic of Mali in Australia since 2007.

Raphael read with Ruth Shann at Gorman Chambers. He was mentored by Daniel Gurvich QC and Felicity Gerry QC.