Lyma Nguyen

Lyma Nguyen is committed to making her legal services available to those most in need. Since 2007 Lyma has practiced law both domestically and internationally, with a focus on criminal and human rights law. She holds a Master of Law, specialising in International Law, from the Australian National University. She has been admitted as a Solicitor and Barrister in New South Wales, the High Court of Australia and the Northern Territory. In 2021 Lyma was named amongst the Northern Territory’s 100 Most Powerful Women. In 2020 Lyma was the overall winner of the 40 under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Leadership Awards. She is the inaugural President of the Asian-Australian Lawyers Association Inc NT branch. She is the youngest of 45 Australian women lawyers selected to participate in the "Trailblazing Women Lawyers Project", whose oral history is to be archived in Australia’s National Library. In her early career, she worked at the Federal Attorney-General's Department, both in the Criminal Justice Division and in the Civil Justice Division (Human Rights Branch). She spent over six years as a Federal Prosecutor at the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP). Lyma has also appeared in civil appeals and special cases stated before the Supreme Court. Internationally, Lyma has worked in Cambodia, Singapore, Nigeria and East Timor, and has French and Vietnamese language skills. She is registered on the list of Counsel at the International Criminal Court, having worked over a decade as Civil Party Counsel at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, where she has, alongside Cambodian co-lawyers, represented victims of Cambodia’s genocidal Khmer Rouge regime. Since 2012, Lyma has been enlisted as a Law and Justice Civilian Expert on the register of the Australian Civilian Corps under the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, for rapid deployment to fragile or post-conflict situations. In 2013, Lyma was recognised for her work at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal by receiving the Prime Minister's Executive Endeavour Award. In 2014 she was awarded the prestigious Churchill Fellowship and received the Best Advocate Award at a specialised training course in 'Advocacy and Litigation before International Courts and Tribunals' organised by the Universiteit Leiden, The Hague. Lyma has guest-lectured at universities globally and presented extensively on genocide and victims representation in international courts, and has written a number of publications on the matter.