QCs CER

[2000] HCATrans 6

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
McHUGH J
GUMMOW J
KIRBY J
HAYNE J
CALLINAN J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT CANBERRA ON MONDAY, 31 JANUARY 2000, AT 3.30 PM

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

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

Mr D.F. Jackson, QC

Mr M.F. Gray QC, President of The South Australian Bar Association

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

Mr N.J. Young QC, President of the Australian Bar Association

Mr D.E. Curtain QC, Chairman of The Victorian Bar

Mr D.J. Porter QC, Convenor of the Tasmanian Independent Bar and incoming President of the Australian Bar Association

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

Mr P.H. Greenwood SC, New South Wales Bar Association

Mr P. Eaton, President of the Western Australian Bar Association

Mr J.A. McIntyre SC

Mr A.D.M. Hewitt SC

Mr D.T. Kennedy SC

Mr S.W. Gibb SC

Mr M.J. Kimber SC

Mr A.S. Martin SC

Mr J.P. Kiely SC

Mr P.E. Blacket SC

Mr R.V. Letherbarrow SC

Mr M.L. Williams SC

Mr M.R. Aldridge SC

Mr T.S. Hale SC

Ms C.A. Needham SC

Mr M.J. Ierace SC

Mr J.B. Whittle SC

Mr C.J. Birch SC

Mr D.E.J. Ryan SC

Mr N.G. Rein SC

Mr J.E. Sexton SC

Mr B.J. Preston SC

Mr J.R. Moore QC

Mr B.A. Murphy QC

Mr R.L. Berglund QC

Mr M.D.G. Heaton QC

Mr J.W. Rapke QC

Mr P.D. Elliott QC
Mr J.A. Smallwood QC
Mr D.M. Salek QC
Mr B.R. Geddes QC
Mr P.A. Scanlon QC
Mr P.W. Almond QC
Mr N.J.D. Green QC
Mr J.D. Hammond QC
Mr N. Mukhtar QC
Mr J.H. Gobbo QC
Ms J.G. Morrish QC
Mr M.A. Dreyfus QC
Mr N. Lucarelli QC
Mr J.B.R. Beach QC
Mr A.R. Harris QC
Mr M.J. Griffin SC
Mr T.F. Carmody SC
Mr T.D.O.J. North SC
Ms A.I. Philippides SC
Ms C.E. Holmes SC
Mr P.L. O’Shea SC
Mr J.K. Bond SC
Mr A.R. Monteith SC

GLEESON CJ:   Mr Greenwood, representing the President of The New South Wales Bar Association.

MR GREENWOOD:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the President of the New South Wales Bar Association has appointed the following members of the Bar here present as Senior Counsel for the State of New South Wales.

They are:

James Alexander McIntyre who appears in the Bar list next after William Patrick Kearns

Anthony David Martin Hewitt who appears in the Bar list next after James Alexander McIntyre

Desmond Thomas Kennedy who appears in the Bar list next after Anthony David Martin Hewitt

Selwyn Warwick Gibb who appears in the Bar list next after William Kingsford Ludlow Dodd

Maxwell James Kimber who appears in the Bar list next after Selwyn Warwick Gibb

Antony Seymour Martin who appears in the Bar list next after Maxwell James Kimber

John Phillip Kiely who appears in the Bar list next after Antony Seymour Martin

Paul Edwin Blacket who appears in the Bar list next after John Phillip Kiely

Ross Victor Letherbarrow who appears in the Bar list next after Paul Edwin Blacket

Mark Lloyd Williams who appears in the Bar list next after Ross Victor Letherbarrow

Murray Robert Aldridge who appears in the Bar list next after Mark Lloyd Williams

Timothy Stuart Hale who appears in the Bar list next after Murray Robert Aldridge

Caroline Anne Needham who appears in the Bar list next after Timothy Stuart Hale

Mark Joseph Ierace who appears in the Bar list next after Caroline Anne Needham

John Brian Whittle who appears in the Bar list next after Mark Joseph Ierace

Christopher John Birch who appears in the Bar list next after John Brian Whittle

Dermot Edward James Ryan who appears in the Bar list next after Elizabeth Lillian Fullerton

Nigel Geoffrey Rein who appears in the Bar list next after Dermot Edward James Ryan

Julian Edward Sexton who appears in the Bar list next after Nigel Geoffrey Rein

Brian John Preston who appears in the Bar list next after Julian Edward Sexton

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Greenwood.  Mr Curtain, Chairman of The Victorian Bar.

MR CURTAIN:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Her Majesty’s Counsel for the State of Victoria.

They are:

Jeffery Robert Moore who ranks in seniority after Oliver Paul Holdenson

Brendan Anthony Murphy who ranks in seniority after Jeffery Robert Moore

Russell Lindsay Berglund who ranks in seniority after Brendan Anthony Murphy

Michael David George Heaton who ranks in seniority after Russell Lindsay Berglund

Jeremy Wingate Rapke who ranks in seniority after Michael David George Heaton

Paul David Elliott who ranks in seniority after Jeremy Wingate Rapke

John Arthur Smallwood who ranks in seniority after Paul David Elliott

Douglas Michaelis Salek who ranks in seniority after Bruce Richard St. Alban Kendall

Bruce Robert Geddes who ranks in seniority after Michael Anthony Tovey

Paul Anthony Scanlon who ranks in seniority after Peter John Hanks

Peter Waddington Almond who ranks in seniority after Terence Michael Forrest

Nicholas Joseph Green who ranks in seniority after Peter Waddington Almond

Jack David Hammond who ranks in seniority after Nicholas Joseph Green

Nemeer Mukhtar who ranks in seniority after Jack David Hammond

Jeremy Hugh Gobbo who ranks in seniority after Nemeer Mukhtar

Jeanette Gita Morrish who ranks in seniority after Jeremy Hugh Gobbo

Mark Alfred Dreyfus who ranks in seniority after Jeanette Gita Morrish

Nunzio Lucarelli who ranks in seniority after Mark Alfred Dreyfus

Jonathan Barry Rashleigh Beach who ranks in seniority after Nunzio Lucarelli

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Curtain.  Mr Gray, President of The South Australian Bar Association.

MR GRAY:   May it please the Court, I inform the Court that Andrew Robert Harris who ranks in seniority after David Harvey Peek has been appointed as Her Majesty’s Counsel for the State of South Australia.

GLEESON CJ:   Thank you, Mr Gray.  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:

Milton James Griffin who ranks in seniority after Duncan Vincent Cook McMeekin

Timothy Francis Carmody who ranks in seniority after Alan Muir Wilson

Timothy Daniel Octavius Joseph North who ranks in seniority after Timothy Francis Carmody

Anthe Ioanna Philippides who ranks in seniority after Timothy Daniel Octavius Joseph North

Catherine Ena Holmes who ranks in seniority after Anthe Ioanna Philippides

Patrick Laurence O’Shea who ranks in seniority after Catherine Ena Holmes

John Kennedy Bond who ranks in seniority after Patrick Laurence O’Shea

Alexander Robert Monteith who ranks in seniority after John Kennedy Bond

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 upon the important mark of professional achievement implicit in their appointments. 

For many years it has been the practice of newly appointed Senior Counsel to make formal announcements of their appointment to the Supreme Court of the State in respect of which their commissions have been granted.  The practice of holding a formal ceremony in the High Court in Canberra at the commencement of law term, for the purpose of making such announcements, signifies 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 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.  It is a formal recognition of professional eminence granted to 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 substantial responsibilities as well as privileges.  You now occupy roles of leadership in your profession and your conduct will be taken as an example by your juniors.  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 onerous than before.

References to the adversary system according to which common law jurisdictions administer justice usually place emphasis upon the contest and often pay insufficient attention to the important corollary of that aspect of the process.  The corollary of the contest between the parties and their lawyers is the impartiality and independence of the judges who decide the outcome.  Because, as a rule, parties and their lawyers choose the issues to be determined in a case, the evidence that will be adduced, and the arguments that will be advanced, the judges are able to act, and to be seen to act, as impartial and independent adjudicators. 

The system depends to a large extent upon the skill and integrity of the professional representatives of the parties, and the diligence and ability which they bring to the performance of their task constitutes an important economic resource upon which the community relies in the administration of justice.  It also happens to be one reason why there are fewer judges per head of population in common law jurisdictions than in civil law jurisdictions.

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.  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 3.43 PM THE COURT ADJOURNED