Ceremonial - QCs

[2005] HCATrans 4

[2005] HCATrans 004

H I G H   C O U R T   O F   A U S T R A L I A

CEREMONIAL SITTING

ON THE OCCASION

OF

ANNOUNCEMENT OF APPOINTMENTS

OF

QUEEN’S COUNSEL AND SENIOR COUNSEL

Coram:   GLEESON CJ

McHUGH J
GUMMOW J
KIRBY J
HAYNE J
HEYDON J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT CANBERRA ON MONDAY, 31 JANUARY 2005, AT 3.30 PM

The following Queen’s Counsel and Senior Counsel were present in Court:

Mr D.F. Jackson QC

Mr D. Bennett QC, Solicitor‑General for the Commonwealth of Australia

Mr I. Viner AO QC, President‑elect of the Australian Bar Association

Mr T. Pauling QC, Solicitor‑General for the Northern Territory

Mr B. Hayes QC, Representative for the South Australian Bar Association

Mr J. Maconachie QC

Mr I. Harrison SC, President of the New South Wales Bar Association

Mr R. Ray QC, President of the Victorian Bar Inc

Mr C. McDonald QC, Representative for the Northern Territory Bar Association

Mr G. Martin SC, President of the Bar Association of Queensland

Mr S. Estcourt QC, Convenor of the Tasmanian Independent Bar

Ms G. Braddock SC, President of the Bar Association of Western Australia

Mr R.L. Crowe SC, President of the Australian Capital Territory Bar Association

Mr D.J. Colquhoun‑Kerr SC

Mr P.W. Tree SC

Mr B.A. Meagher SC

Mr R.W. Blowes SC

Mr P.M. Barr SC

Ms S.J. Cox QC

Ms R.J. Webb QC

Mr K.A. Chapple SC

Ms C.A. Ronalds AM SC

Mr I.H. Bailey SC

Mr D.C. Frearson SC

Ms C.A. Davenport SC

Mr R.R.I. Harper SC

Mr C.W. McEwen SC

Mr P.G. Mahony SC

Mr G.K. Burton SC

Mr G.E. Smith SC

Mr D.M. Howard SC

Mr M. Dempsey SC

Mr J.E. Robson SC

Mr P.R. Whitford SC

Mr A.C. Haesler SC

Mr M.T. McCulloch SC

Ms J.A. Needham SC

Mr S.T. White SC

Mr J.P.A. Durack SC

Mr M.R. Speakman SC

Mr D.J. Campbell SC

Mr R.G. Martin SC

Mr S.J. Keim SC

Mr R.M. Derrington SC

Mr P.J. Callaghan SC

Ms J.H. Dalton SC

Mr P.J. Murphy SC

Mr R.A. Elston SC

Mr F.D. Saccardo SC

Mr D.L. Allen SC

Ms J. Davies SC

Mr D.M. MacLean SC

Mr G.C. McGowan SC

Ms S.E. Pullen SC

Mr R.W. McGarvie SC

Mr M.F. Wheelahan SC

Mr J.D. Elliott SC

Mr C.P. Shanahan SC

Mr A.R. Beech SC

Mr M.T. Ritter SC

Ms M.A. Perry QC

GLEESON CJ:   Mr Estcourt, Convenor of the Tasmanian Independent Bar.

MR ESTCOURT:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Senior Counsel for Tasmania.

They are:

Duncan James Colquhoun‑Kerr who ranks in seniority after Daryl George Coates

Peter William Tree who ranks in seniority after Duncan James Colquhoun‑Kerr

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Estcourt.  Mr Crowe, President of the Australian Capital Territory Bar Association.

MR CROWE:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Senior Counsel for the Australian Capital Territory.

They are:

Bryan Allan Meagher who ranks in seniority after Robert Leonard Crowe

Robert William Blowes who ranks in seniority after Bryan Allan Meagher

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Crowe.  Mr McDonald, representing the President of the Northern Territory Bar Association.

MR McDONALD:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Queen’s Counsel for the Northern Territory.

They are:

Peter Martin Barr who appears in the Bar List next after Jon Courtland Arthur Tippett

Suzan Jane Cox who appears in the Bar List next after Peter Martin Barr

Raelene Joyce Webb who appears in the Bar List next after Peter Martin Barr

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr McDonald.  Mr Harrison, President of the New South Wales Bar Association.

MR HARRISON:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Senior Counsel for the State of New South Wales.

They are:

Keith Alan Chapple who appears in the Bar list next after Anthony Blen Stuart Franklin

Christine Anne Ronalds who appears in the Bar list next after Keith Alan Chapple

Ian Harley Bailey who appears in the Bar list next after Christine Anne Ronalds

David Clement Frearson who appears in the Bar list next after Ian Harley Bailey

Carolyn Anne Davenport who appears in the Bar list next after David Clement Frearson

Robert Rainy Ian Harper who appears in the Bar list next after Carolyn Anne Davenport

Christopher William McEwen who appears in the Bar list next after Robert Rainy Ian Harper

Phillip Gregory Mahony who appears in the Bar list next after Christopher William McEwen

Gregory Keith Burton who appears in the Bar list next after Phillip Gregory Mahony

Gregory Eugene Smith who appears in the Bar list next after Gregory Keith Burton

Daniel McKean Howard who appears in the Bar list next after Andrew Michael Colefax

Mark Dempsey who appears in the Bar list next after Daniel McKean Howard

Jonathon Ernest Robson who appears in the Bar list next after Mark Dempsey

Peter Raymond Whitford who appears in the Bar list next after Robert Stephen Angyal

Andrew Carl Haesler who appears in the Bar list next after Robert Edward Dubler

Mark Thomas McCulloch who appears in the Bar list next after Andrew Carl Haesler

Jane Annabel Needham who appears in the Bar list next after Mark Thomas McCulloch

Simon Thomas White who appears in the Bar list next after Jane Annabel Needham

John Philip Arnott Durack who appears in the Bar list next after Simon Thomas White

Mark Raymond Speakman who appears in the Bar list next after John Philip Arnott Durack

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Harrison.  Mr Martin, President of the Bar Association of Queensland.

MR MARTIN:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Senior Counsel for the State of Queensland.

They are:

Douglas John Campbell who ranks in seniority after Paul Alexander Freeburn

Ross Gregory Martin who ranks in seniority after Richard Anthony Perry

Stephen Joseph Keim who ranks in seniority after Ross Gregory Martin

Roger Marc Derrington who ranks in seniority after Stephen Joseph Keim

Peter James Callaghan who ranks in seniority after Roger Marc Derrington

Jean Hazel Dalton who ranks in seniority after Peter James Callaghan

Peter John Murphy who ranks in seniority after Jean Hazel Dalton

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Martin.  Mr Ray, Chairman of the Victorian Bar.

MR RAY:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Senior Counsel for the State of Victoria.

They are:

Raymond Alwyn Elston who ranks in seniority after Kristine Patricia Hanscombe

Francis Denis Saccardo who ranks in seniority after Raymond Alwyn Elston

Duncan Leslie Allen who ranks in seniority after Francis Denis Saccardo

Jennifer Davies who ranks in seniority after Duncan Leslie Allen

David Mark MacLean who ranks in seniority after Peter William Collinson

Glenn Charles McGowan who ranks in seniority after David Mark MacLean

Susan Elizabeth Pullen who ranks in seniority after Glenn Charles McGowan

Richard Wallace McGarvie who ranks in seniority after Susan Elizabeth Pullen

Michael Francis Wheelahan who ranks in seniority after Richard Wallace McGarvie

James Dudley Elliott who ranks in seniority after Michael Francis Wheelahan

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Ray.  Ms Braddock, President of the Western Australia Bar Association.

MS BRADDOCK:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Senior Counsel for the State of Western Australia.

They are:

Christopher Patrick Shanahan who ranks in seniority after Gregory Arthur Calcutt

Andrew Robert Beech who ranks in seniority after Christopher Patrick Shanahan

Mark Timothy Ritter who ranks in seniority after Andrew Robert Beech

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Ms Braddock.  Mr Hayes, representing the President of the South Australian Bar Association.

MR HAYES:   May it please the Court, I inform the court that the following member of the Bar here present has been appointed as Queen’s Counsel for the State of South Australia.

Melissa Anne Perry who ranks in seniority after Michael David Walter

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Hayes.  Does any member of the Bar move?

On behalf of all the members of the Court, I congratulate the newly appointed Senior Counsel.  Your appointments are a public recognition of your professional eminence; a recognition that comes primarily from your professional colleagues.

For a long time it was customary for Senior Counsel to make formal announcements of their appointment to the Supreme Court of the State or Territory in which they have their principal practice.  Making announcements of that kind in this Court at the commencement of the law term has come about with the development of a national bar.  As in most federations, the legal profession is organised and administered primarily on a State or Territory basis, but arrangements for reciprocity of admission and recognition of status mean that there is now a high degree of mobility between jurisdictions.

Appointment as Senior Counsel has never been regarded in any Australian jurisdiction as something to which a barrister is entitled simply by reason of durability.  It is a formal recognition of the professional standing of those whose learning, skill and ability have come to be regarded by their peers, and by the relevant appointing authority, as warranting such a distinction.  The appointment carries with it responsibilities as well as privileges.  You now occupy a position of leadership in your profession.  Your conduct will be taken as an example by your juniors.  Solicitors, members of the public and courts will place particular reliance on your ability and, as a rule, the work that you will be given to do, and the cases that you will be given to conduct, will be more onerous.

Most of you in Court today, and all of us on the Bench, have travelled to be here.  Some of you have travelled a long way.  Coming to the nation’s capital and seat of government at the cost of considerable time and effort signifies the national character of the legal profession. 

This occasion signifies something else that is equally important.  It signifies the relationship between Bench and Bar, which is part of our legal and constitutional inheritance.  You have all been admitted to practice as officers of a State or Territory Supreme Court.  By virtue of that admission, federal legislation entitles you to practise in federal courts.  In whatever courts you appear, State or Federal, your overriding duty as advocates is a duty to the court.  The courts depend for their capacity to administer justice upon your skill and integrity.

In our legal system, most judges are appointed from the ranks of experienced legal practitioners.  The professional strength and independence of spirit of the Bar sustains the strength and independence of the judiciary.

You have all now reached a milestone in your professional careers.  You are faced with new challenges and new opportunities.  Some of you have been accompanied on this occasion by members of your family and friends and the Court is delighted to welcome their participation in this happy occasion.  I hope that each of you will find personal and professional satisfaction in your new rank.  Thank you for the courtesy that you have shown in informing the Court of your appointments. 

The Court will adjourn until 10.15 tomorrow.

AT 3.45 PM THE COURT ADJOURNED