Gideon Boas has a broad criminal and civil practice. He practises in the areas of criminal law (trial and appeal), personal injury (including medical negligence) and tort law, industrial as well as other civil and commercial areas. He has expertise in the area of evidence law, in which he teaches and publishes (see Bellew, Arthur, Boas and Chifflet, Australian Uniform Evidence Law: Principles and Context, LexisNexis 2019), and has considerable experience in complex litigation, both in Australia and internationally. Gideon is briefed in a number of complex serious criminal and civil matters, traversing terrorism, foreign incursions, slavery, drugs and fraud, as well as civil proceedings for plaintiffs seeking damages for historical sex abuse.
Gideon has worked as a Senior Legal Officer at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), where he led the Chamber’s legal team in the Milosevic case. He has also acted for Radovan Karadzic, accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes before the ICTY.
Gideon has delivered legal training on criminal and administrative law matters, including to the Victorian Bar, Judicial College of Victoria, Police Prosecutors, Victoria Legal Aid, the Office of Public Prosecutions and the Department of Justice, on the criminal process implications of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. He has given expert legal opinion on a range of matters, including in the extradition and human rights areas. He has consulted for a range of government bodies, including the Australian federal government and Victorian government departments, the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the United Nations. Gideon has published many books, book chapters and journal articles on criminal law and justice, evidence and procedure, and international law.
Gideon is a Victoria Legal Aid Criminal Trial preferred barrister. He is also an accredited specialist criminal law advocate under the Victorian Bar's Indictable Crime Certificate program.
