Queen's Counsel
Encyclopedia
Queen's Counsel known as King's Counsel (postnominal
KC) during the reign of a male sovereign
, are lawyer
s appointed by letters patent
to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law. Membership exists/existed in various Commonwealth
countries around the world (and sometimes replaced by the term Senior Advocate in certain jurisdictions) and it is a status
, conferred by the Crown
, that is recognised by court
s. (In case of Senior Advocates however, the same is conferred by the Higher Courts). Members have the privilege of sitting within the Bar
of court.
As members wear silk
gowns of a particular design (see court dress
), the award of Queen's or King's Counsel is known informally as taking silk. Appointments are made from within the legal profession on the basis of merit rather than a particular level of experience, however successful applicants tend to be solicitor advocates, barristers, or (in Scotland) advocates with 15 years or more experience.
, and King's Serjeants were King's Counsel in Ordinary in the Kingdom of England
. The first Queen's Counsel Extraordinary was Sir Francis Bacon, who was given a patent
giving him precedence at the Bar in 1597, and formally styled King's Counsel in 1603.
The new rank of Queen's Counsel contributed to the gradual obsolescence of the formerly more senior Serjeant-at-law
by superseding it. The Attorney-General and Solicitor-General had similarly succeeded the King's Serjeants as leaders of the Bar in Tudor
times, though not technically senior until 1623 (except for the two senior King's Serjeants) and 1813 respectively. But the Queen's Counsel only emerged into eminence in the early 1830s, prior to when they were relatively few in number. It became the standard means of recognising that a barrister
was a senior member of the profession, and the numbers multiplied accordingly. It became of greater professional importance to become a QC, and the serjeants gradually declined. The QCs inherited not merely the prestige of the serjeants, but their priority before the courts. The earliest English law list, published in 1775, lists 165 members of the Bar, of whom 14 were Queen's Counsel, a proportion of about 8.5%. Roughly the same proportion exists today, although the number of barristers has, of course, greatly increased, to about 12,250 in independent practice (i.e., excluding pupil barristers and employed barristers) as at December 2010.
had to be retained. They were also not permitted to appear in Court without a junior barrister
, and they had to have chambers in London
. From the beginning, they were not allowed to appear against the Crown without a special licence, but this was generally given as a formality. This was particularly important in criminal cases, which are mostly brought in the name of the Crown, with the result that, until 1920 in England
and Wales
, King's and Queen's Counsel had to have a licence to appear in criminal cases for the defence. These restrictive practices had a number of consequences: they made the taking of silk something of a professional risk, because appointment abolished at a stroke some of the staple work of the junior barrister; they made the use of leading Counsel more expensive, and therefore ensured that they were retained only in more important cases, and they protected the work of the junior bar, which could not be excluded by the retention of leading Counsel. By the end of the twentieth century, however, all of these rules had been abolished one by one, so that appointment is now a matter of status and prestige only, with no formal disadvantages.
in the higher courts, and some 275 were so entitled in 1995. In 1995, these solicitors alone became entitled to apply for appointment as Queen's Counsel and the first two solicitors were appointed on 27 March 1997, out of 68 new QCs. These were Arthur Marriott (53), partner of the London office of the American law firm of Wilmer Cutler and Pickering, and Dr Lawrence Collins
(55), a partner of the City law firm of Herbert Smith
who was subsequently appointed as a High Court Judge
and ultimately Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
.
The first woman appointed King's Counsel was Helen Alice Kinnear
in Canada in 1934. The first women to be appointed as King's Counsel in the United Kingdom were Helena Normanton
and Rose Heilbron
in 1949.
The appointment of new Queen's Counsel was suspended in 2003, and it was widely expected that the system would be abolished. However, a vigorous campaign was mounted in defence of the system, including those who supported it as an independent indication of excellence valued by outsiders (especially foreign commercial litigants) who did not have much else to go on, and those who contended in a letter to The Times
that it was a means whereby the most able barristers from ethnic minorities could overcome prejudice. The Government's focus then switched from abolition to reform and, in particular, reform of the much-criticised "secret soundings" of Judges and other establishment legal figures upon which the old system was based, which was said to be inappropriate and unfair given the size of the modern profession, a possible source of improper Government patronage (since the final recommendations were made by the Lord Chancellor, who is a member of the Government), and discriminatory against part-time workers (especially women) and ethnic minorities.
In November 2004, after much public debate in favour of and against retaining the title (see for example Sasha Wass QC), it was announced that appointments of Queen's Counsel in England
would be resumed but that future appointees would be chosen not by the government but by a nine-member panel, chaired by a lay person, which would include two barristers, two solicitors, one retired judge and three non-lawyers. Formally, the appointment remains a royal one made on the advice of the Secretary of State for Justice, but he no longer comments on individual applications, and merely supervises the process and reviews the panel's recommendations in general terms (satisfying himself that the process as operated is fair and efficient).
Application forms under the new system were released in July 2005 and the appointment of 175 new Queen's Counsel was announced on 20 July 2006. A total of 443 people had applied (including 68 women, 24 ethnic minority lawyers and 12 solicitors). Of the 175 appointed, 33 were women, 10 were from ethnic minorities, and 4 were solicitors. Six people were also appointed QC honoris causa. On 16 October 2006, a couple of weeks after the beginning of the legal year, the successful candidates made a declaration and received their letters patent
from the Lord Chancellor
in Westminster Hall.
Further appointments were announced on 22 January 2008 and 23 February 2010, and the process is now again annual, with the last appointments to date announced on 1 March 2011. Further information can be found at the Queen's Counsel Appointments website, http://www.qcappointments.org/.
, where the independent Bar is organised as the Faculty of Advocates
and its members known not as barristers but as advocates, the position of Queen's Counsel was not recognised before 1868. Initially the status was reserved first for law officers (Lord Advocate
and Solicitor General for Scotland
) and soon after for the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates. In 1897 a petition by the Faculty of Advocates for the establishment of a Scottish roll of Queen's Counsel was approved and the first appointments were made later in that year.
There are now over 150 QCs in Scotland. The appointment of Queen's Counsel is made on the recommendation of the Lord Justice General to the First Minister of Scotland
, formerly the Secretary of State for Scotland
. In the 1990s, it became possible for solicitors with rights of audience in the Court of Session
or High Court of Justiciary to apply for appointment, and two or three have done so. A solicitor advocate who is so appointed is correctly designated as Queen's Counsel, Solicitor Advocate.
In 2000, the Northern Ireland High Court ruled in the barristers' favour, and after considerable wrangling the men were permitted to make "a more neutral statement".
In 1997, the Lord Chief Justice
, Sir Robert Carswell, wrote "I have little doubt myself that this is all part of an ongoing politically-based campaign to have the office of Queen's Counsel replaced by a rank entitled Senior Counsel, or something to that effect".
replaced the QC nomenclature with the new title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria
with appointments restricted to fewer than 30 lawyers a year, made by the Chief Justice of Nigeria on the recommendation of the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee which is made up of senior judges and lawyers. The qualification requirements are almost identical to those required for appointment as Queen's Counsel. They are entitled to wear silk gowns and enjoy similar privileges as the Queen's Counsel.
, the rank of Queen's Counsel was granted when it was a crown colony
and British dependent territory. A practising barrister may be appointed as Queen's Counsel in recognition of his or her professional eminence by Crown Patent on the advice of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong
. As Hong Kong severed ties with the United Kingdom
in 1997, barristers are no longer appointed Queen's Counsel (QC), but as Senior Counsel (SC). Those appointed before the change were renamed Senior Counsel.
s where Queen Elizabeth II
is head of state
. In jurisdictions that have become republics, the office of Queen's Counsel has been replaced with an equivalent, for example, Senior Counsel
in South Africa
, Trinidad and Tobago
and Guyana
, Senior Advocate in Nigeria
, India
and Bangladesh
, and President's Counsel
in Sri Lanka
.
(SC) as an honorific conferred by the legal profession itself. New South Wales
was the first and Queensland
followed in 1993. Most other states and the Commonwealth Government followed over the next 15 years. Those appointed before the change in the relevant jurisdiction may retain the old title. The only state or territory to retain the Queen's Counsel is the Northern Territory
.
, with the final appointments of Queen's Counsel occurring in 2007, after which the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (which made the change) came into force. However in June 2009, Attorney-General Hon Christopher Finlayson
announced that the title of Queen's Counsel would be reinstated, and a bill to implement the restoration was introduced into Parliament in March 2010, with new conferences during 2010 and 2011 to the position.
; appointments ceased in Ontario
in 1985, and the federal government ceased the practice in 1993. No substitute distinctions have been implemented in these jurisdictions as it is felt that the practice is a form of political patronage
and is best discontinued entirely. However, title holders continue to use the QC postnominals. In Manitoba, it was proposed that the title would be replaced by Senior Counsel (S.R.) in 2001. Appointments were to be made by the Law Society of Manitoba
. However, the practice was never adopted.
In Alberta
the Lieutenant Governor in Council appoints the Queen’s Counsel recipients. Traditionally, the appointments are made every second year. The honorary title recognizes outstanding expertise, work and contributions in a lawyer’s public life.
In New Brunswick, the Lieutenant Governor appoints Queen's Counsel recipients on the advice of a committee comprising the Chief Justice of New Brunswick, the Attorney General, and the president of the Law Society of New Brunswick.
rank, as their status
is conferred by the president
, recognised by the courts and wear silk gowns of a special design. It is the equivalent of the rank of Queen's Counsel in the United Kingdom
, which was use in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) until 1972 when Sri Lanka became a republic, when the position became that of Senior Attorney-at-Law. In 1984 the position became the President's Counsel. The holder can use the post-nominal letters
PC after his or her name.
Queen's Counsel in England and Wales have two forms of official dress, depending on whether they are dressing for appearance in Court before a Judge, or a ceremonial occasion.
Upon promotion to Queen's Counsel, the male barrister retains in Court his wing collar, bands and short wig. However, instead of an ordinary dark jacket, he wears a special black court coat (frock coat) and waistcoat in a style unique to Queen's Counsel or, alternatively, a long-sleeved waistcoat in similar style with no frock coat, known as a "bum freezer" because it is cut off at the waist.
He also replaces the black stuff gown of a junior barrister with a black silk gown, although cheaper variants are also worn, including gowns of the same cut but all wool, or in a silk-wool mix, or in artificial silk. The all wool gown is, strictly speaking, a mourning gown, but that point is now of historical interest only. A female Queen's Counsel wears a similar gown and wig to that of her male counterparts.
In addition, however, Queen's Counsel wear distinctive full-bottomed wigs and their silk gowns. The silk gown is the same as that worn when appearing in court. It is this gown which gives rise to the colloquial reference to Queen's Counsel as silks and to the phrase taking silk referring to their appointment.
When wearing the full bottomed wig, Queen's Counsel have a black rosette hanging from the back of the neck, which was originally intended to catch oil and powder that might otherwise mark the silk gown. Modern wigs, however, are made of horsehair and so there is no longer any oil or powder.
Post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles or designatory letters, are letters placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, or honour. An individual may use several different sets of...
KC) during the reign of a male sovereign
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
, are lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s appointed by letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law. Membership exists/existed in various Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
countries around the world (and sometimes replaced by the term Senior Advocate in certain jurisdictions) and it is a status
Status (law)
A person's status is a set of social conditions or relationships created and vested in an individual by an act of law rather than by the consensual acts of the parties, and it is in rem, i.e. these conditions must be recognised by the world. It is the qualities of universality and permanence that...
, conferred by the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
, that is recognised by court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
s. (In case of Senior Advocates however, the same is conferred by the Higher Courts). Members have the privilege of sitting within the Bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
of court.
As members wear silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
gowns of a particular design (see court dress
Court dress
Court dress comprises the style of clothes prescribed for courts of law, and formerly for royal courts.- Where court dress is worn :Court dress is worn at hearings in open court in all Senior Courts of England and Wales and in county courts. However, court dress may be dispensed with at the option...
), the award of Queen's or King's Counsel is known informally as taking silk. Appointments are made from within the legal profession on the basis of merit rather than a particular level of experience, however successful applicants tend to be solicitor advocates, barristers, or (in Scotland) advocates with 15 years or more experience.
Historical background
The Attorney-General, Solicitor-GeneralSolicitor General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, often known as the Solicitor General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to advise the Crown and Cabinet on the law...
, and King's Serjeants were King's Counsel in Ordinary in the Kingdom of England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
. The first Queen's Counsel Extraordinary was Sir Francis Bacon, who was given a patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
giving him precedence at the Bar in 1597, and formally styled King's Counsel in 1603.
The new rank of Queen's Counsel contributed to the gradual obsolescence of the formerly more senior Serjeant-at-law
Serjeant-at-law
The Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...
by superseding it. The Attorney-General and Solicitor-General had similarly succeeded the King's Serjeants as leaders of the Bar in Tudor
Tudor dynasty
The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...
times, though not technically senior until 1623 (except for the two senior King's Serjeants) and 1813 respectively. But the Queen's Counsel only emerged into eminence in the early 1830s, prior to when they were relatively few in number. It became the standard means of recognising that a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
was a senior member of the profession, and the numbers multiplied accordingly. It became of greater professional importance to become a QC, and the serjeants gradually declined. The QCs inherited not merely the prestige of the serjeants, but their priority before the courts. The earliest English law list, published in 1775, lists 165 members of the Bar, of whom 14 were Queen's Counsel, a proportion of about 8.5%. Roughly the same proportion exists today, although the number of barristers has, of course, greatly increased, to about 12,250 in independent practice (i.e., excluding pupil barristers and employed barristers) as at December 2010.
Restrictions on Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel and serjeants were prohibited, at least from the mid-nineteenth century, from drafting pleadings alone; a junior barristerBarrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
had to be retained. They were also not permitted to appear in Court without a junior barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, and they had to have chambers in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. From the beginning, they were not allowed to appear against the Crown without a special licence, but this was generally given as a formality. This was particularly important in criminal cases, which are mostly brought in the name of the Crown, with the result that, until 1920 in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, King's and Queen's Counsel had to have a licence to appear in criminal cases for the defence. These restrictive practices had a number of consequences: they made the taking of silk something of a professional risk, because appointment abolished at a stroke some of the staple work of the junior barrister; they made the use of leading Counsel more expensive, and therefore ensured that they were retained only in more important cases, and they protected the work of the junior bar, which could not be excluded by the retention of leading Counsel. By the end of the twentieth century, however, all of these rules had been abolished one by one, so that appointment is now a matter of status and prestige only, with no formal disadvantages.
Modern reforms
Queen's Counsel were traditionally selected from barristers, rather than from lawyers in general, because they were counsel appointed to conduct court work on behalf of the Crown. Although the limitations on private instruction were gradually relaxed, QCs continued to be selected from barristers, who had the sole right of audience in the higher courts. However, in 1994 solicitors of England and Wales became entitled to gain rights of audienceRights of audience
In common law, a right of audience is generally a right of a lawyer to appear and conduct proceedings in court on behalf of their client. In English law, there is a fundamental distinction between barristers, who have a right of audience, and solicitors, who traditionally do not ; there is no such...
in the higher courts, and some 275 were so entitled in 1995. In 1995, these solicitors alone became entitled to apply for appointment as Queen's Counsel and the first two solicitors were appointed on 27 March 1997, out of 68 new QCs. These were Arthur Marriott (53), partner of the London office of the American law firm of Wilmer Cutler and Pickering, and Dr Lawrence Collins
Lawrence Collins
Lawrence Antony Collins, Baron Collins of Mapesbury, PC , is a British judge and former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He was also appointed to the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong on April 11, 2011 as a non-permanent judges from other common law jurisdictions...
(55), a partner of the City law firm of Herbert Smith
Herbert Smith
Herbert Smith LLP is an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The firm has offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm was founded in the City of London in 1882 by Norman Herbert Smith and today has 240 partners and 1,300 fee-earners.-History:The firm was...
who was subsequently appointed as a High Court Judge
High Court judge
A High Court judge is a judge of the High Court of Justice, and represents the third highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne judges...
and ultimately Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom are the judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom other than the President and Deputy President. The Supreme Court is the highest in the United Kingdom for civil matters, and for criminal matters from England and Wales and Northern Ireland...
.
The first woman appointed King's Counsel was Helen Alice Kinnear
Helen Alice Kinnear
Helen Alice Kinnear, QC was a Canadian lawyer. She was the first federally appointed woman judge in Canada.-Early life:She was born in Cayuga, Ontario, Canada...
in Canada in 1934. The first women to be appointed as King's Counsel in the United Kingdom were Helena Normanton
Helena Normanton
Helena Florence Normanton, KC was the first woman to practise as a barrister in the UK. In 1922 she was called to the Bar of England and Wales at the Middle Temple, following the example set by Ivy Williams earlier that year....
and Rose Heilbron
Rose Heilbron
Dame Rose Heilbron, DBE, QC was one of the outstanding barristers of the post-war period in the United Kingdom, whose career included many 'firsts' for a woman - she was the first woman to win a scholarship to Gray's Inn, the first woman to be appointed King's Counsel in England, the first to lead...
in 1949.
The appointment of new Queen's Counsel was suspended in 2003, and it was widely expected that the system would be abolished. However, a vigorous campaign was mounted in defence of the system, including those who supported it as an independent indication of excellence valued by outsiders (especially foreign commercial litigants) who did not have much else to go on, and those who contended in a letter to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
that it was a means whereby the most able barristers from ethnic minorities could overcome prejudice. The Government's focus then switched from abolition to reform and, in particular, reform of the much-criticised "secret soundings" of Judges and other establishment legal figures upon which the old system was based, which was said to be inappropriate and unfair given the size of the modern profession, a possible source of improper Government patronage (since the final recommendations were made by the Lord Chancellor, who is a member of the Government), and discriminatory against part-time workers (especially women) and ethnic minorities.
In November 2004, after much public debate in favour of and against retaining the title (see for example Sasha Wass QC), it was announced that appointments of Queen's Counsel in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
would be resumed but that future appointees would be chosen not by the government but by a nine-member panel, chaired by a lay person, which would include two barristers, two solicitors, one retired judge and three non-lawyers. Formally, the appointment remains a royal one made on the advice of the Secretary of State for Justice, but he no longer comments on individual applications, and merely supervises the process and reviews the panel's recommendations in general terms (satisfying himself that the process as operated is fair and efficient).
Application forms under the new system were released in July 2005 and the appointment of 175 new Queen's Counsel was announced on 20 July 2006. A total of 443 people had applied (including 68 women, 24 ethnic minority lawyers and 12 solicitors). Of the 175 appointed, 33 were women, 10 were from ethnic minorities, and 4 were solicitors. Six people were also appointed QC honoris causa. On 16 October 2006, a couple of weeks after the beginning of the legal year, the successful candidates made a declaration and received their letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
from the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
in Westminster Hall.
Further appointments were announced on 22 January 2008 and 23 February 2010, and the process is now again annual, with the last appointments to date announced on 1 March 2011. Further information can be found at the Queen's Counsel Appointments website, http://www.qcappointments.org/.
Scotland
In ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, where the independent Bar is organised as the Faculty of Advocates
Faculty of Advocates
The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary...
and its members known not as barristers but as advocates, the position of Queen's Counsel was not recognised before 1868. Initially the status was reserved first for law officers (Lord Advocate
Lord Advocate
Her Majesty's Advocate , known as the Lord Advocate , is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament...
and Solicitor General for Scotland
Solicitor General for Scotland
Her Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Crown and the Scottish Government on Scots Law...
) and soon after for the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates. In 1897 a petition by the Faculty of Advocates for the establishment of a Scottish roll of Queen's Counsel was approved and the first appointments were made later in that year.
There are now over 150 QCs in Scotland. The appointment of Queen's Counsel is made on the recommendation of the Lord Justice General to the First Minister of Scotland
First Minister of Scotland
The First Minister of Scotland is the political leader of Scotland and head of the Scottish Government. The First Minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish Government policy...
, formerly the Secretary of State for Scotland
Secretary of State for Scotland
The Secretary of State for Scotland is the principal minister of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Scotland. He heads the Scotland Office , a government department based in London and Edinburgh. The post was created soon after the Union of the Crowns, but was...
. In the 1990s, it became possible for solicitors with rights of audience in the Court of Session
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland, and constitutes part of the College of Justice. It sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal....
or High Court of Justiciary to apply for appointment, and two or three have done so. A solicitor advocate who is so appointed is correctly designated as Queen's Counsel, Solicitor Advocate.
Northern Ireland
The title of QC remains, but in 1998 two Northern Irish barristers (Seamus Treacy - now Mr Justice Treacy - and Barry Macdonald) opposed the requirement of swearing an oath of allegiance to the Crown (Queen Elizabeth II during her reign). The Bar Council (the body which represents barristers' interests) had agreed (in the Elliott report) that the royal oath should be dropped and replaced by a more neutral statement. It suggested that, instead of declaring their services to Queen Elizabeth, barristers should "sincerely promise and declare that I will well and truly serve all whom I may lawfully be called to serve in the office of one of Her Majesty's Counsel, learned in the law according to the best of my skill and understanding".In 2000, the Northern Ireland High Court ruled in the barristers' favour, and after considerable wrangling the men were permitted to make "a more neutral statement".
In 1997, the Lord Chief Justice
Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is the head of the judiciary in Northern Ireland, presiding over the Courts of Northern Ireland. The present Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland is Sir Declan Morgan...
, Sir Robert Carswell, wrote "I have little doubt myself that this is all part of an ongoing politically-based campaign to have the office of Queen's Counsel replaced by a rank entitled Senior Counsel, or something to that effect".
Nigeria
NigeriaNigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
replaced the QC nomenclature with the new title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria
Senior Advocate of Nigeria
Senior Advocate of Nigeria is a title that may be conferred on legal practitioners in Nigeria of not less than ten years' standing and who have distinguished themselves in the legal profession...
with appointments restricted to fewer than 30 lawyers a year, made by the Chief Justice of Nigeria on the recommendation of the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee which is made up of senior judges and lawyers. The qualification requirements are almost identical to those required for appointment as Queen's Counsel. They are entitled to wear silk gowns and enjoy similar privileges as the Queen's Counsel.
Hong Kong
In Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, the rank of Queen's Counsel was granted when it was a crown colony
Crown colony
A Crown colony, also known in the 17th century as royal colony, was a type of colonial administration of the English and later British Empire....
and British dependent territory. A practising barrister may be appointed as Queen's Counsel in recognition of his or her professional eminence by Crown Patent on the advice of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong
Chief Justice of Hong Kong or erroneously Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong was the most senior judge in the court system in Hong Kong until 1997....
. As Hong Kong severed ties with the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1997, barristers are no longer appointed Queen's Counsel (QC), but as Senior Counsel (SC). Those appointed before the change were renamed Senior Counsel.
Today
Queen's Counsel are retained in several Commonwealth RealmCommonwealth Realm
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth of Nations that has Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. The sixteen current realms have a combined land area of 18.8 million km² , and a population of 134 million, of which all, except about two million, live in the six...
s where Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
is head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
. In jurisdictions that have become republics, the office of Queen's Counsel has been replaced with an equivalent, for example, Senior Counsel
Senior Counsel
The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel is given to a senior barrister or advocate in some countries, typically equivalent to the title "Queen's Counsel" used in Commonwealth Realms...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
and Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, Senior Advocate in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, and President's Counsel
President's Counsel (Sri Lanka)
President's Counsel is a professional rank, as their status is conferred by the president, recognised by the courts and wear silk gowns of a special design...
in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia at the federal level and most state and territory governments commenced replacing the title Queen's Counsel and appointment by letters patent with the title Senior CounselSenior Counsel
The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel is given to a senior barrister or advocate in some countries, typically equivalent to the title "Queen's Counsel" used in Commonwealth Realms...
(SC) as an honorific conferred by the legal profession itself. New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
was the first and Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
followed in 1993. Most other states and the Commonwealth Government followed over the next 15 years. Those appointed before the change in the relevant jurisdiction may retain the old title. The only state or territory to retain the Queen's Counsel is the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
.
- The NSW GovernmentGovernment of New South WalesThe form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
replaced the office of Queen's Counsel with the office of Senior Counsel in 1993. All existing appointees could choose to continue to be called Queen's Counsel or change to the newer title of Senior Counsel. All new appointees were called Senior Counsel. - The Supreme Court of QueenslandSupreme Court of QueenslandThe Supreme Court of Queensland, which is based at the Law Courts Complex, is the superior court for the Australian State of Queensland and sits around the middle of the Australian court hierarchy...
replaced the title with Senior Counsel in 1994. - The Supreme Court of the Australian Capital TerritorySupreme Court of the Australian Capital TerritoryThe Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory is the superior court for the ACT. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters , and hears the most serious criminal matters...
effected a moratorium on appointment of Queen's Counsel in its own jurisdiction in 1995 in preference to appointing Senior Counsel. - The Supreme Court of VictoriaSupreme Court of VictoriaThe Supreme Court of Victoria is the superior court for the State of Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1852, and is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited jurisdiction within the state...
replaced the appointment of Queen's Counsel with Senior Counsel in 2000. - The Supreme Court of Western AustraliaSupreme Court of Western AustraliaThe Supreme Court of Western Australia is the highest state court in the Australian State of Western Australia. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters , and hears the most serious criminal matters.The Supreme Court consists of a General Division The Supreme Court of Western...
replaced the office of Queen's Counsel with the office of Senior Counsel on 24 September 2001. - The Supreme Court of South AustraliaSupreme Court of South AustraliaThe Supreme Court of South Australia is the superior court for the Australian State of South Australia. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. The Supreme Court is the highest South Australian court in the Australian court...
replaced the title with Senior Counsel in 2010. - The Federal Government replaced the office of Queen's Counsel with that of Senior Counsel in July 2010.
New Zealand
In 2006, the title was renamed Senior CounselSenior Counsel
The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel is given to a senior barrister or advocate in some countries, typically equivalent to the title "Queen's Counsel" used in Commonwealth Realms...
, with the final appointments of Queen's Counsel occurring in 2007, after which the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (which made the change) came into force. However in June 2009, Attorney-General Hon Christopher Finlayson
Chris Finlayson
Christopher Francis Finlayson is a New Zealand lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament, representing the National Party. He is a Cabinet minister and the Attorney-General of New Zealand...
announced that the title of Queen's Counsel would be reinstated, and a bill to implement the restoration was introduced into Parliament in March 2010, with new conferences during 2010 and 2011 to the position.
Canada
The practice of appointed Queen's Counsel continues in a number of Canada's provincesProvinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
; appointments ceased in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
in 1985, and the federal government ceased the practice in 1993. No substitute distinctions have been implemented in these jurisdictions as it is felt that the practice is a form of political patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
and is best discontinued entirely. However, title holders continue to use the QC postnominals. In Manitoba, it was proposed that the title would be replaced by Senior Counsel (S.R.) in 2001. Appointments were to be made by the Law Society of Manitoba
Law Society of Manitoba
The Law Society of Manitoba is the self-governing body for lawyers in Manitoba, Canada. Its mandate is to regulate the legal profession.To practice law in the Province of Manitoba, a person must be a member of the Law Society of Manitoba. The Law Society of Manitoba sets its own admission...
. However, the practice was never adopted.
In Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
the Lieutenant Governor in Council appoints the Queen’s Counsel recipients. Traditionally, the appointments are made every second year. The honorary title recognizes outstanding expertise, work and contributions in a lawyer’s public life.
In New Brunswick, the Lieutenant Governor appoints Queen's Counsel recipients on the advice of a committee comprising the Chief Justice of New Brunswick, the Attorney General, and the president of the Law Society of New Brunswick.
Sri Lanka
President's Counsel (postnominal PC) is a professionalProfessional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
rank, as their status
Political status
In international law three categories of Political status are usually recognized:#Independent countries e.g.: France, Canada#Internal independent countries which are under the protection of another country in matters of defense and foreign affairs, e.g.: Netherlands Antilles, the Faroe Islands,...
is conferred by the president
President of Sri Lanka
The President of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the elected head of state and the head of government. The President is a dominant political figure in Sri Lanka. The office was created in 1978 but has grown so powerful there have been calls to restrict or even eliminate its power...
, recognised by the courts and wear silk gowns of a special design. It is the equivalent of the rank of Queen's Counsel in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, which was use in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) until 1972 when Sri Lanka became a republic, when the position became that of Senior Attorney-at-Law. In 1984 the position became the President's Counsel. The holder can use the post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles or designatory letters, are letters placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, or honour. An individual may use several different sets of...
PC after his or her name.
Queen's Counsel dress
The following relates to the dress of Queen's Counsel at the Bar of England and Wales. Most other jurisdictions adopt the same dress, but there are some local variations.Queen's Counsel in England and Wales have two forms of official dress, depending on whether they are dressing for appearance in Court before a Judge, or a ceremonial occasion.
Court dress
A junior barrister, if male, wears a white shirt and white wing-collar with bands, underneath a double-breasted or three-piece lounge suit of dark colour. He has a black "stuff" gown over his suit, and wears a short wig of horsehair. A female junior barrister wears similar garb.Upon promotion to Queen's Counsel, the male barrister retains in Court his wing collar, bands and short wig. However, instead of an ordinary dark jacket, he wears a special black court coat (frock coat) and waistcoat in a style unique to Queen's Counsel or, alternatively, a long-sleeved waistcoat in similar style with no frock coat, known as a "bum freezer" because it is cut off at the waist.
He also replaces the black stuff gown of a junior barrister with a black silk gown, although cheaper variants are also worn, including gowns of the same cut but all wool, or in a silk-wool mix, or in artificial silk. The all wool gown is, strictly speaking, a mourning gown, but that point is now of historical interest only. A female Queen's Counsel wears a similar gown and wig to that of her male counterparts.
Ceremonial dress
For ceremonial occasions, Queen's Counsel wear black breeches and black stockings instead of trousers, and patent leather Court shoes with buckles. They wear the same black frock coat and waistcoat worn when appearing in Court (never the "bum freezer", however) but add lace at the wrists and also a lace stock at the collar. Bands are no longer worn at the collar in addition to the lace, and the wing collar is also dispensed with. They have white cotton gloves, but these are invariably carried and not worn. This part of their ceremonial dress is taken from the standard ceremonial dress worn at the Royal Court (as opposed to the Courts of Justice) by other courtiers.In addition, however, Queen's Counsel wear distinctive full-bottomed wigs and their silk gowns. The silk gown is the same as that worn when appearing in court. It is this gown which gives rise to the colloquial reference to Queen's Counsel as silks and to the phrase taking silk referring to their appointment.
When wearing the full bottomed wig, Queen's Counsel have a black rosette hanging from the back of the neck, which was originally intended to catch oil and powder that might otherwise mark the silk gown. Modern wigs, however, are made of horsehair and so there is no longer any oil or powder.
See also
- Senior CounselSenior CounselThe title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel is given to a senior barrister or advocate in some countries, typically equivalent to the title "Queen's Counsel" used in Commonwealth Realms...
, similar status used by some jurisdictions in which the British monarch is not head of state. - Serjeant-at-lawSerjeant-at-lawThe Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...
, a now defunct rank higher than that of QC. - Silk (TV Series)Silk (TV series)Silk is a British television drama series produced by the BBC and first shown in 2011. Written by Peter Moffat, the series follows a set of barristers, and what they do to attain the rank of Queen's Counsel, known as 'taking silk'.-Origin:...
, a BBC 2011 legal drama showing the competitive pursuit of the silk.
External links
- The Queen’s Counsel of England and Wales 2010
- Paper on Queen's Counsel constitutional reforms
- Queen's Counsel – Historical Context a paper written in 2001 for the Nova ScotiaNova ScotiaNova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
Barristers' Society reviewing the history of the QC and current practices throughout Canada and the Commonwealth. - Guardian 2004-04-10: QC system replaced by new scheme after 400 years
- Guardian 2004-05-28: U-turn lets QC title live on for now
- Website of the new English QC appointments procedure
- Canadian Forces Administrative Order 18-4 Recommendations for Canadian Orders, Decorations and Military Honours