QCs CER

[2001] HCATrans 7

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 APPOINTMENT

OF

QUEEN’S COUNSEL AND SENIOR COUNSEL

Coram:            GLEESON CJ

GAUDRON J
McHUGH J
GUMMOW J
KIRBY J
HAYNE J
CALLINAN J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT CANBERRA ON MONDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2001, AT 3.30 PM

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

Mr D.F. Jackson QC

Mr R. Burbidge QC

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

Mr G. Hiley QC

Mr J.S. Douglas QC, President of the Bar Association of Queensland

Mr P. Donohoe QC, representative of the Australian Capital Territory Bar Association

Mr D. Curtain QC, Treasurer of The Victorian Bar

Ms R. McColl SC, President of the New South Wales Bar Association

Mrs A. Bennett QC

Mr M. Derham QC, President of the Victorian Bar

Mr B. Selway QC, Solicitor‑General for South Australia

Mr D. Porter QC, President of the Australian Bar Association

Mr R. Meadows QC, Solicitor-General for Western Australia

Mr C. McDonald QC, representative of the Northern Territory Bar Association

Mr S.P. Pallaras QC

Mr R.G. Orr QC

Mr R.C. Refshauge SC

Mr G.R. Petty SC

Mr M.I. Bozic SC

Mr R.M. Goot AM SC

Mr S.D. Epstein SC

Mr G.F. Little SC

Mr R.F. Margo SC

Mr F.C. Corsaro SC

Mr S.J. Rushton SC

Mr S.R. Donaldson SC

Mr P.G. Berman SC

Mr S.J. Odgers SC

Mr J.T. Gleeson SC

Mr H.J. Dixon SC

Mr K.R. Howie SC

Mr G.M. Horgan SC

Mr R.F. Punshon SC

Mr J.A. Jordan SC

Mr G.G. Hicks SC

Mr C.E. Croft SC

Mr J.A.H. Foxcroft SC

Ms O. Nikou SC

Ms H.M. Symon SC

Mr M.J. Crennan SC

Mr N.J. O’Bryan SC

Mrs J.J. Batrouney SC

Mr S. Southwood QC

Mr P.V. Ambrose SC

Mr P.E. Hack SC

Mr M.M. Stewart SC

Mr A.B. Crowe SC

Mr P.D.T. Applegarth SC

Mr A.M. Daubney SC

GLEESON CJ:   Mr Solicitor for Western Australia: 

MR MEADOWS:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that Stephen Paul Pallaras here present who ranks in seniority after Mark Terence Trowell has been appointed as one of Her Majesty’s Counsel for the State of Western Australia.

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Solicitor.  Mr Solicitor for the Commonwealth.

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

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Solicitor.  Mr Donohoe, representative of the Australian Capital Territory Bar Association.

MR DONOHOE:  May it please the Court, I inform the Court that Richard Christopher Refshauge here present who ranks in seniority after Terence Lionel Buddin has been appointed as Senior Counsel for the Australian Capital Territory.

GLEESON CJ:   Ms McColl, President of The New South Wales Bar Association.

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

They are:

Geoffrey Roy Petty who appears in the Bar list next after Brian John Preston

Michael Ivan Bozic who appears in the Bar list next after John Dailly

Robert Malcolm Goot who appears in the Bar list next after Michael Ivan Bozic

Stephen Desmond Epstein who appears in the Bar list next after Robert Malcolm Goot

Graeme Frederick Little who appears in the Bar list next after Stephen Desmond Epstein

Robin Fabian Margo who appears in the Bar list next after Jonathan Bennett Simpkins

Francesco Corsaro who appears in the Bar list next after Robin Fabian Margo

Stephen Jeffrey Rushton who appears in the Bar list next after Francesco Corsaro

Stuart Roy Donaldson who appears in the Bar list next after Stephen Jeffrey Rushton

Peter Graeme Berman who appears in the Bar list next after Stuart Roy Donaldson

Peter Raymond Zahra who appears in the Bar list next after Peter Graeme Berman

Stephen James Odgers who appears in the Bar list next after Peter Raymond Zahra

Justin Thomas Gleeson who appears in the Bar list next after Stephen James Odgers

Harry Joseph Dixon who appears in the Bar list next after David Jacob Hammerschlag

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Ms McColl.  Mr Derham, Chairman of The Victorian Bar.

MR DERHAM:   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:

KennethRoss Howie who ranks in seniority after Jonathan Barry Rashleigh Beach

Geoffrey Michael Horgan who ranks in seniority after Kenneth Ross Howie

Roy Francis Punshon who ranks in seniority after Geoffrey Michael Horgan

John Anthony Jordan who ranks in seniority after Peter Holloway Clark

Graeme Geoffrey Hicks who ranks in seniority after John Anthony Jordan

Clyde Elliott Croft who ranks in seniority after Paul Gregory Lacava

John Anthony Hugh Foxcroft who ranks in seniority after David John Brown

Olyvia Nikou who ranks in seniority after John Anthony Hugh Foxcroft

Helen Mary Symon who ranks in seniority after Olyvia Nikou

Michael Joseph Crennan who ranks in seniority after Helen Mary Symon

Norman John O’Bryan who ranks in seniority after Michael Joseph Crennan

Jennifer Jane Batrouney who ranks in seniority after Norman John O’Bryan

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Derham.  Mr McDonald, representative of the Northern Territory Bar Association.

MR McDONALD:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that Stephen Roger Southwood who ranks in seniority after Shane Leslie Stone has been appointed as one of Her Majesty’s Counsel for the Northern Territory.

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr McDonald.  Mr Douglas, President of the Bar Association of Queensland.

MR DOUGLAS:   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:

Peter Vivian Ambrose who ranks in seniority after John Kennedy Bond

Philip Edward Hack who ranks in seniority after Peter Vivian Ambrose

Michael McPherson Stewart who ranks in seniority after Philip Edward Hack

Andrew Bede Crowe who ranks in seniority after Michael McPherson Stewart

Peter David Talbot Applegarth who ranks in seniority after Andrew Bede Crowe

Alfred Martin Daubney who ranks in seniority after Peter David Talbot Applegarth

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

On behalf of all the members of the Court, I congratulate the newly appointed Queen’s Counsel and Senior Counsel.  Their appointments represent a public recognition of professional eminence and achievement. 

For many years it has been the practice of newly appointed Senior Counsel to announce their appointment to the Supreme Court of the State in respect of which their commissions have been granted.  The relatively recent practice of holding a formal ceremony in this Court in Canberra at the commencement of law term, for the purpose of making such announcements, has come with the development of a national bar.  Although, as in most federations, the legal profession is organised and administered primarily on a State basis, arrangements for reciprocity of admission and recognition of status have meant that there is a high degree of mobility within the legal profession and this is to the advantage of clients and of the administration of justice.

Appointment as Senior Counsel has never been regarded in any Australian jurisdiction as something to which a barrister is entitled after a sufficient length of time.  Rather, it is a formal recognition of the professional standing of those whose learning, skill and ability is regarded by their professional peers and by the relevant appointing authority as warranting such a distinction.  Appointment as Senior Counsel carries with it responsibilities as well as privileges.  You now occupy roles 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 professional ability and, as a rule, the work that you will be given to do and the cases you will conduct will be more burdensome than before.

References to the adversary system according to which common law jurisdictions administer justice usually place emphasis on the contest and give insufficient attention to one of the corollary of that aspect of the process.  That corollary is the impartiality and independence of the judges who decide the outcome of cases.  Because, as a rule, parties and their lawyers choose the issues to be determined in a case, the evidence that will be led, the arguments that will be advanced, the judges are able to act, and to be seen to act, as impartial and independent adjudicators.  In a criminal trial, the guilt or innocence of an accused person will be decided by a judge, or by 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 choice of witnesses.  In a civil trial the decision as to the rights of the parties will be made by a judge who has remained conspicuously neutral.  In an appeal it is the parties and their lawyers who define the grounds of appeal and present the material upon which the appeal is decided.  The adversarial system and the public and official neutrality of the judicial decision makers are intimately related.

The system depends to a large extent on the skill and integrity of the professional representatives of the parties.  The capacity of the system to do justice depends upon the capacity of the lawyers to assist the court to do justice.

You have now reached a milestone in your professional careers and 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 significant and happy occasion.  Most of you have come a long way to do it.  I trust 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 now adjourn.

AT 3.41 PM THE COURT ADJOURNED