Sir Alfred Stephen GCMG CB PC (20 August 1802 – 15 October 1894) was an Australian judge and Chief Justice of New South Wales.

Stephen's resignation to his position in August 1825, and his charges against his brother officer's professional and public conduct brought the matter to a head.

[4] As Solicitor-General of Van Diemen's Land during the late 1820s–early 1830s, Stephen's career intersected with the Black War, the final push by European settlers to destroy the resistance of the Aboriginal Tasmanians.

Following an incident where four company servants under the supervision of Alexander Goldie shot one Aboriginal woman and executed another with an axe on 21 August 1829, the case came before Stephens.

He published in 1843 his Introduction to the Practice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and on 7 October 1844, he was appointed acting chief justice.

He was able to give the council the benefit of his experience by framing legislation dealing with land titles, the legal profession, and the administration of justice.

Commander Palmer had been sent by the Royal Navy to investigate allegations of blackbirding, the illegal recruitment (including enslavement) of the indigenous populations of nearby Pacific islands or northern Queensland.

Palmer found the Daphne in harbour at Levuka in Fiji fitted out like an "African slaver", and filled with Islanders on board looking emaciated and having little knowledge of why they were on the ship.

The Daphne was owned by Henry Ross Lewin, a long time blackbirder who had been commissioned to import slaves for Robert Towns' sugar plantations (the entrepreneur after whom Townsville is named).

Despite this, Sir Alfred Stephen found Pritchard and Dagget innocent on the grounds that the British Slave Trade Act 1839 did not apply to the South Pacific Ocean.

[8] In addition to this, Sir Stephen found that Captain Palmer had illegally seized Daphne and ordered him to pay reparations to Daggett and Pritchard.

This decision, which overrode the obvious humanitarian actions of a senior officer of the Royal Navy, gave further legitimacy to the blackbirding trade out of Queensland and allowed it to flourish.

Alfred's brother, George Milner Stephen (1812–1894), was a barrister with a significant political career in South Australia and Victoria.