QCs CER

[2002] HCATrans 3

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

GAUDRON J
GUMMOW J
KIRBY J
HAYNE J
CALLINAN J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT CANBERRA ON MONDAY, 4 FEBRUARY 2002, AT 3.30 PM

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

Mr D.F. Jackson QC

Mr D.M.J. Bennett QC, Solicitor-General for the Commonwealth of Australia

Mr I. Viner QC, President of the Western Australian Bar Association

Mr R.F. Redlich QC, Chairman of The Victorian Bar

Mr D.E. Curtain QC, Incoming President of the Australian Bar Association

Ms R.S. McColl SC, President of the Australian Bar Association and Immediate Past President of the New South Wales Bar Association

Mrs A.C. Bennett SC

Mr D. Porter QC, President of the Tasmanian Independent Bar, Immediate Past President of the Australian Bar Association

Mr A.J. Glynn SC, President of the Bar Association of Queensland

Mr J. Reeves QC, President of the Northern Territory Bar Association

Mr J.D. Harris, President of the Australian Capital Territory Bar Association

Ms H.R. Penfold QC

Mr M.T. Trowell QC

Mr K.R. Wilson SC

Mr M.H. Zilko SC

Mr J.A. Chaney SC

Mr C.G. Colvin SC

Ms A.G. Braddock SC

Ms S. Norton SC

Mr C.B. Craigie SC

Mr R.F. Sutherland SC

Mr K.P. Rewell SC

Mr H.K. Insall SC

Mr B.D. Hodgkinson SC

Mr V.B. Hughston SC

Mr T.F. Robertson SC

Mr R.J. Wright SC

Mr A.M. Blackmore SC

Mr J.P. Gormly SC

Mr R.J.H. Darke SC

Mr R.J. Weber SC

Mr N.J. Williams SC

Mr J.E. Griffiths SC

Mr D.C. Andrews SC

Mr C.L. Hughes SC

Mr D.K. Boddice SC

Mr D.A. Savage SC

Mr G.G. McGrath SC

Mr H. Borenstein SC

Mr C.G. Hillman SC

Mr D.A. Parsons SC

Mr P.N. Rose SC

Mr D.G. Collins SC

Mr D.H. Denton SC

Mr R.J.H. Maidment SC

Mr R.J. Manly SC

Mr M.E. Dean SC

Mr G.G. McArthur SC

Mr H.J. Langmead SC

Mr W.J. Karczewski QC

GLEESON CJ:   Mr Solicitor for the Commonwealth.

MR BENNETT:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that Hilary Ruth Penfold here present has been appointed one of Her Majesty’s Counsel for the Commonwealth of Australia ranking in seniority after Robert Grant Orr.

GLEESON CJ:   Mr Solicitor.  Mr Viner, President of the Western Australian Bar Association.

MR VINER:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that Mark Terence Trowell here present has been appointed one of Her Majesty’s Counsel for the State of Western Australia.  I wish to 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:

Kimberley Robert Wilson who ranks in seniority after Stephen Paul Pallaras

Matthew Howard Zilko who ranks in seniority after Kimberley Robert Wilson

John Anthony Chaney who ranks in seniority after Matthew Howard Zilko

Craig Grierson Colvin who ranks in seniority after Christopher Blackett Edmonds

Audrey Gillian Braddock who ranks in seniority after Craig Grierson Colvin

GLEESON CJ:   Mr Viner.  Ms McColl, Immediate Past President of The New South Wales Bar Association.

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

They are:

Sharron Norton who appears in the Bar list next after Robert George Lethbridge

Christopher Bruce Craigie who appears in the Bar list next after Paul Vincent Conlon

Robert Forbes Sutherland who appears in the Bar list next after Christopher Bruce Craigie

Keith Phillip Rewell who appears in the Bar list next after John Arthur Ayling

Howard Kincaid Insall who appears in the Bar list next after Keith Phillip Rewell

Bruce David Hodgkinson who appears in the Bar list next after Howard Kincaid Insall

Vance Bernard Hughston who appears in the Bar list next after Bruce David Hodgkinson

Timothy Frank Robertson who appears in the Bar list next after Vance Bernard Hughston

Robertson James Wright who appears in the Bar list next after Timothy Frank Robertson

Anthony Martin Blackmore who appears in the Bar list next after Robertson James Wright

Jeremy Patrick Gormly who appears in the Bar list next after Anthony Martin Blackmore

Rowan James Hunter Darke who appears in the Bar list next after Jeremy Patrick Gormly

Robert John Weber who appears in the Bar list next after John Victor Nicholas

Neil John Williams who appears in the Bar list next after Robert John Weber

John Edward Griffiths who appears in the Bar list next after Neil John Williams

GLEESON CJ:   Mr Glynn, President of the Bar Association of Queensland.

MR GLYNN:  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:

David Charles Andrews who ranks in seniority after Alfred Martin Daubney

Christopher Laurence Hughes who ranks in seniority after David Charles Andrews

David Kim Boddice who ranks in seniority after Christopher Laurence Hughes

Douglas Andrew Savage who ranks in seniority after David Kim Boddice

GLEESON CJ:   Mr Redlich, Chairman of The Victorian Bar.

MR REDLICH:   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:

George Gerard McGrath who ranks in seniority after Ian McPherson Pitt

Herman Borenstein who ranks in seniority after George Gerard McGrath

Colin Gordon Hillman who ranks in seniority after Herman Borenstein

David Anthony Parsons who ranks in seniority after Colin Gordon Hillman

Peter Norman Rose who ranks in seniority after Leslie Glick

David George Collins who ranks in seniority after Brian Emlyn Walters

David Hope Denton who ranks in seniority after Julie Anne Dodds‑Streeton

Richard John Haylock Maidment who ranks in seniority after David Hope Denton

Richard James Manly who ranks in seniority after Richard John Haylock Maidment

Mark Edward Dean who ranks in seniority after Richard James Manly

Geoffrey Gordon McArthur who ranks in seniority after David Francis Rashleigh Beach

Harold John Langmead who ranks in seniority after Geoffrey Gordon McArthur

GLEESON CJ:   Mr Reeves, President of the Northern Territory Bar Association.

MR REEVES:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that Wojciech Jacek Karczewski here present has been appointed as one of Her Majesty’s Counsel for the Northern Territory ranking in seniority after Stephen Roger Southwood.

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Reeves.  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 many years it has been customary for Queen’s Counsel and 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 such announcements in this Court at the commencement of law term comes about with the development of a national bar.  Although, as in most federations, the legal profession is organised and administered primarily on a State and Territory basis, arrangements for reciprocity of admission and recognition of status mean that there is now a high degree of mobility between jurisdictions.  This works to the advantage of clients and of the administration of justice and it fosters professional competition.

The individualism of the manner in which barristers practice, and the way in which their services are retained, also foster competition.  Barristers’ services are ordinarily retained by other legal professionals, that is to say, solicitors, who are skilled in assessing their abilities, and in comparing what they have to offer.  The exercise of sound judgment in briefing a barrister is one of the professional services a solicitor offers a client.  Advocacy services are necessarily provided in public. The performance of barristers is constantly on display to those who will decide whether to recommend them to lay clients.  Advertising and self‑promotion are not effective methods of informing the general public of the quality of skilled professional services and of creating the conditions necessary for well‑advised choice.  Most lay people need professional assistance in assessing their need for the services of barristers who practise at the level of Senior Counsel, and that assistance is ordinarily provided by solicitors.

Appointment as Senior Counsel has never been recognised in any Australian jurisdiction as something to which a barrister is entitled simply by reason of having survived in practice for a sufficient length of time.  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.  Appointment as Senior Counsel carries with it substantial responsibilities as well as privileges.  You now occupy a position of leadership in your profession, and your conduct will be taken as an example by others.  Solicitors, members of the public and courts will place special reliance on your ability and, as a rule, the work that you will be given to do, and the cases you will conduct, will be more onerous than before.

References to the adversary system by which the common law jurisdictions administer justice usually place emphasis on the contest, and often pay little attention to another key aspect of the process.  The contest between the parties and their lawyers helps to secure the impartiality and independence of the judges who decide the outcome.  The parties and their lawyers choose the issues to be decided in a case, the evidence that will be called, and the arguments that will be advanced.  In consequence, the judge is able to act, and to be seen to act, as an impartial and independent adjudicator.  In a criminal trial, the guilt or innocence of an accused person will be decided by a judge, or a jury instructed by a judge, who has taken no part in the decision to prosecute the accused, or in the framing of the charge, or in the selection of witnesses.  In a civil trial, the judge similarly remains neutral.  In an appeal, it is the parties and their lawyers who define the grounds of appeal and present the material on which the appeal is decided.  The adversarial system, and the public and official neutrality of the decision makers, are closely related.

Such a system depends on the skill and integrity of the professional representatives of the parties.  The capacity of courts to do justice depends on the capacity of lawyers to assist the court.  The acceptance of an obligation to assist the court, an obligation that may override even a duty to the client, is the fundamental condition on which barristers are given a right of audience.  It is the foundation of the adversarial system of justice.  The services of barristers are provided to courts as well as to clients; a matter that is sometimes left out of account in considering how those services are best arranged.

You have 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 you have shown in informing the Court of your appointments. 

The Court will adjourn.

AT 3.44 PM THE COURT ADJOURNED