Supreme Court (Senior Counsel) Rules 2007 (NT)
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
SUPREME COURT (SENIOR COUNSEL) RULES 2007
As in force at 29 March 2017
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
As in force at 29 March 2017
SUPREME COURT (SENIOR COUNSEL) RULES 2007
Rules under the Supreme Court Act 1979
These Rules may be cited as the
These Rules state the principles on which the Chief Justice will exercise the power to appoint Senior Counsel under section 21 of the
(1) The Chief Justice will not appoint Queen’s Counsel.
(2) Except in exceptional cases, appointment as a Senior Counsel will be confined to practising advocates.
The following attributes are required for appointment as a Senior Counsel:
(a) exemplary knowledge and understanding of the law;
(b) a high level of skill as an advocate;
(c) integrity and trustworthiness;
(d) commitment to the best traditions of the bar and to the administration of justice;
(e) maturity of judgment acquired from substantial experience in legal practice.
(1) A legal practitioner may apply to the Chief Justice to be considered for appointment as Senior Counsel.
(2) The application must be made in writing no later than 31 August.
(3) The application must:
(a) provide evidence the applicant has the attributes required for appointment; and
(b) include any undertaking required by the Chief Justice.
(4) Immediately after the closing date for applications, the Chief Justice must provide a list of the names of all the applicants to the following:
(a) the Attorney-General;
(b) the President of the Law Society;
(c) the President of the Northern Territory Bar Association.
(5) A person to whom the list is given under subrule (4) may make it available for inspection by anyone else.
(1) For the purposes of section 21(2)(b)(iii) of the
Legal Profession Act 2006 :(a) the President of the Law Society must, in each year, nominate to the Chief Justice at least one solicitor to represent the Society; and
(b) the President of the Northern Territory Bar Association Incorporated must, in each year, nominate to the Chief Justice at least one barrister to represent the Association.
(2) The nominations must be made in writing no later than 31 July.
(3) The consultation required under section 21(2)(b) of the
Legal Profession Act 2006 is to be conducted as the Chief Justice considers appropriate.(4) The Chief Justice may (but is not obliged to) refer adverse comments made about an applicant to the applicant for a response.
(5) If the Chief Justice refers an adverse comment to the applicant, the Chief Justice is not obliged to disclose the source of the comment.
(1) The Chief Justice must notify an applicant of the Chief Justice’s decision regarding the applicant’s application.
(2) The Chief Justice is not obliged to give reasons for the decision.
1 KEY
Key to abbreviations
2 LIST OF LEGISLATION
Notified | 16 January 2008 |
Commenced | 16 January 2008 |
Notified | 29 March 2017 |
Commenced | 29 March 2017 |
3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS
General amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table of amendments to this reprint) are made by the
4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS
r 5 amd No. 5, 2017, r 3
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