Legal Practitioners (Senior and Queen's Counsel) Amendment Act 2020 (SA)

South Australia

Legal Practitioners (Senior and Queen's Counsel) Amendment Act 2020

An Act to amend the Legal Practitioners Act 1981.

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:

Part 1Preliminary1Short title

This Act may be cited as the Legal Practitioners (Senior and Queen's Counsel) Amendment Act 2020.

2Commencement

This Act comes into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

3Amendment provisions

In this Act, a provision under a heading referring to the amendment of a specified Act amends the Act so specified.

Part 2Amendment of Legal Practitioners Act 19814Insertion of Part 7

After Part 6 insert:

Part 7—Appointment of Senior Counsel, Queen's Counsel etc

91—Appointment of Senior Counsel

1. (1)

   The Chief Justice may, on behalf of the Supreme Court and in accordance with the Rules of the Court, appoint any legal practitioner as a Senior Counsel.

2. (2)

   The Chief Justice must ensure that notice of the appointment of a legal practitioner as a Senior Counsel is published in the Gazette as soon as practicable.

92—Appointment of Queen's Counsel etc

1. (1)

   The Attorney‑General must, at the request of a legal practitioner who is a Senior Counsel, recommend to the Governor that the legal practitioner be appointed as a Queen's Counsel or King's Counsel (as the case may require) (and the Attorney‑General may only make such a recommendation to the Governor on receipt of a request from a Senior Counsel in accordance with this subsection).

2. (2)

   The Governor may, on the recommendation of the Attorney‑General, by notice in the Gazette, appoint a legal practitioner as a Queen's Counsel or King's Counsel (as the case may require).

3. (3)

   If a legal practitioner is appointed as a Queen's Counsel or King's Counsel, the legal practitioner—

   1. (a)

      ceases to be a Senior Counsel; and

   2. (b)

      will take precedence, as a Queen's Counsel or King's Counsel, in accordance with their former precedence as a Senior Counsel.

93—Revocation and resignation of appointments

1. (1)

   The Chief Justice may, on behalf of the Supreme Court and in accordance with the Rules of the Court, revoke the appointment of any legal practitioner as a Senior Counsel or as a Queen's Counsel or King's Counsel.

2. (2)

   A legal practitioner who has been appointed as a Senior Counsel, or as a Queen's Counsel or King's Counsel, may, by written notice to the Chief Justice, resign from that appointment.

3. (3)

   The Chief Justice must ensure that notice of a revocation of, or resignation from, an appointment as a Senior Counsel, or as a Queen's Counsel or King's Counsel, is published in the Gazette as soon as practicable.

Schedule 1—Transitional provisions

1—Application of section 92

Section 92 of the Legal Practitioners Act 1981 (as enacted by this Act) applies in relation to a legal practitioner who has been appointed as a Senior Counsel by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court before or after the commencement of that section.

2—Application of section 93

Section 93 of the Legal Practitioners Act 1981 (as enacted by this Act) applies in relation to a legal practitioner who has been appointed as a Senior Counsel by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or as a Queen's Counsel, before or after the commencement of that section.