Why criminal law carries a real personal safety risk

Most lawyers deal with conflict on paper. Criminal lawyers deal with it face to face: with clients who may be facing jail, and with victims and their families who may see the defence lawyer as the person standing between them and justice, and the prosecutor as the person who let them down.

Australia has little published data on threats to lawyers themselves, but the research on the people who share their workplace is clear. A July 2025 paper from the Australian Judicial Officers Association reported that a survey of 205 sitting or retired NSW judicial officers, published in July 2022, found that approximately 61 per cent had experienced some form of threat, 41 per cent had received a threat of harm, and almost a quarter had received a death threat. Threats were mostly made in the courtroom or in person outside court, with social media next. The paper also reported that the number of Victorian judicial officers seeking support to manage a threat more than doubled between 2023 and 2024.

Lawyers work in the same buildings, usually without a bench, a dock or a security officer between them and an upset member of the public. In England and Wales, where solicitors have been surveyed directly, a 2025 Law Society survey found 68 per cent of criminal law practitioners were concerned for their personal safety, and a quarter had received physical threats or actual harm, mostly in and around a court building.

Australian lawmakers have recognised the problem. In November 2022 NSW passed laws making it an offence to threaten or cause injury or detriment to a defence practitioner, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. As one criminal law practice director told the Law Society Journal, defence work "exposes us to an increased risk of threats and intimidation".

Where the risk shows up in a criminal lawyer's week

• Court corridors and foyers. Lists run late, tempers fray and opposing families wait metres apart. Screening happens at the front door, but the most heated moments come after the matter is called.
• Verdicts, sentences and bail refusals. When a client is remanded, the family often turns on the one person who was supposed to stop it: the lawyer.
• Watch-houses, cells and prisons. Custody interviews happen in small rooms with clients who may be withdrawing, unwell or furious. Duty lawyers may see a dozen people in a morning with little background on any of them.
• Clients with violent histories, mental illness or drug use. Most clients are respectful, but some can change in an instant, and you are often alone with them.
• Victims' families. Prosecutors manage grief and anger. Defence lawyers can be confronted by people who believe they are protecting a guilty person.
• Being followed. The walk from court to the car park or station is where a lawyer is most alone and least protected.
• Threats online and at home. Names appear in court lists and judgments, and home addresses can be found with little effort. A 2025 Journal of Judicial Administration article notes that threats to judicial officers and court staff "may be common and serious".

A realistic scenario: after the bail refusal

A magistrate has just refused bail and your client is taken down to the cells. You step into a crowded foyer and the client's brother and two friends are waiting. The brother is too close, saying you never wanted to win and that he knows which car is yours. His friends drift to either side of you. Court security is at the screening point on the other side of the building.

Nothing physical has happened yet. But you are crowded, you are flanked, and someone has just told you he knows where you are going next. What you do in the next minute matters: how you hold your space, what you say, which way you move, and whether you walk to your car alone. This is the moment training is for.

Why court security and office policies cannot carry the whole load

Employers in Australia have a legal duty to manage the risk of workplace violence and aggression, including from clients and members of the public. Safe Work Australia describes it as incidents where a person is abused, threatened or assaulted while at work, and Queensland's Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022, in force since 1 April 2023, lists violence and aggression as a hazard businesses must identify and control.

Firms, legal aid offices and prosecution services already use screening, duress alarms, red flags on files and escort policies, and these help. But security cannot be in every corridor at once, and outside the court precinct it is not there at all. A policy cannot read body language, keep you between a person and the door, or keep your voice steady when someone has just threatened your family.

Lawyers also carry professional constraints. You cannot simply refuse to see a difficult client, and as an officer of the court your conduct is under scrutiny, so calm, controlled responses matter even more. Under stress most people freeze or over-talk, and only realistic practice changes that.

What effective self defence gives a criminal lawyer

For a lawyer, self defence is not about winning a fight in a court foyer. It is about seeing trouble coming, stopping it escalating, and getting away safely if it does. Good training builds five practical skills:

• Reading people and places. Noticing who is waiting outside the courtroom, where the exits and security officers are, and how an interview room is laid out before you sit down.
• Owning your space. Keeping a table, distance or doorway working for you, not letting a group flank you, and never being backed into a corner, lift or stairwell.
• De-escalation under pressure. Calm voice, open hands, short clear sentences, and knowing when to end a conversation and walk towards security instead of arguing the case.
• Physical skills as a last resort. Simple, reliable ways to break a grab, protect your head and create space to leave. Australian law generally allows force that is reasonable and necessary to defend yourself, and the goal is always the minimum needed to reach safety.
• Safer routines. Walking out with a colleague, varying routes, and recognising when you are being followed and what to do about it.

How Arakan helps legal teams

Arakan Martial Art has been teaching for more than 30 years and has trained tens of thousands of people, from children to executives, professional athletes, law enforcement and military personnel. Our workplace self defence workshops bring that experience to criminal law firms, chambers, legal aid offices and prosecution teams.

A workshop for a criminal law team can focus on:

• reading a court foyer or corridor and spotting escalation early;
• positioning in interview and conference rooms, including custody settings;
• de-escalating an angry client, relative or victim's family member, and ending the conversation safely;
• what to do if you are grabbed, crowded by a group, or followed to your car;
• staying composed when adrenaline hits, so you can think, speak clearly and get help.

Sessions are led by full time professional instructors, are trauma-aware and safety-first, and suit every age and fitness level, from graduates to senior counsel and support staff. Formats range from 90 to 120 minute intensives to half day and full day workshops, ongoing team programs and executive private coaching, and can be built into a team day, conference, leadership or wellness program.

Why Arakan is not a traditional dojo or a ring sport

A court foyer is not a mat, and a client conference is not a bout.

• Built for real situations. Arakan is a Burmese martial art that has never been a ring or competition style. There are no rules or referees in a court corridor.
• Close quarters. Training covers small rooms, doorways, corridors, vehicles and situations involving more than one person, because that is where lawyers are most exposed.
• Adaptable principles. Students learn movement, balance, timing and positioning they can apply anywhere, rather than memorised sequences that only work in ideal conditions.
• Legal responsibility built in. Awareness, avoidance, de-escalation and the legal limits on force are part of the training, which matters to people whose careers depend on sound judgement.
• No egos, no aggression. Workshops challenge people without intimidating them, so lawyers leave calmer and more confident, not more combative.

This article is general information only and is not legal, safety or professional advice. Always follow your employer's safety procedures, court security directions and professional conduct obligations, report threats to police, and call 000 in an emergency.