EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1982 No. 119
Issued by the authority of the Justices of the High Court of Australia
PRACTITIONERS RULES
The Practitioners Admission Rules made pursuant to sub-section 86(ga) of the Judiciary Act 1903 provide for the admission of a person to practise in Federal Courts as a barrister and solicitor. The Rules were made in 1908 and have stood substantially unamended since 1914.
In 1976 the Commonwealth Practitioners Board, established under the Rules, critically reviewed the operation of the Rules and, in relation to the Board’s role as a legal educator, noted that students-at-law under the Rules had, without exception, held degrees in law and by virtue of exemptions granted under Rule 17 had only been required to pass three subjects in section IV of the Final Examination to qualify for admission. The scheme had become, for some people, a convenient method of avoiding the more onerous obligations attached to the practical legal training qualifications prescribed by the various State courts for admission to practise.
The Justices of the High Court accepted the recommendation of the Board that the Practitioners Admission Rules should be repealed. As a first step in achieving this object the Rules were amended in August 1978 (No. 151, 1978) to provide that as from the commencement of the amending Rule (24 August 1978) no person could be admitted as a student-at-law and that as from 31 December 1979 no person could undertake an examination referred to in Rule 11.
The Rule of Court repeals the Practitioners Admission Rules but provides for the preservation of the rights and obligations of people who have been admitted as barristers and solicitors of the High Court under the Rules. The Practitioners Rules provide for the continuance of the Roll of barristers and solicitors, and give the High Court disciplinary powers over barristers and solicitors whose names are on the Roll.