Ceremonial - Announcement of Appointment of Senior Counsel [2012] HCATrans 4 (30 January 2012)

Last Updated: 31 January 2012

[2012] HCATrans 004

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

THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF APPOINTMENT

OF

SENIOR COUNSEL

Coram: FRENCH CJ

GUMMOW J

HAYNE J

HEYDON J

CRENNAN J

KIEFEL J

BELL J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT CANBERRA ON MONDAY, 30 JANUARY 2012, AT 3.30 PM

The following Queen’s Counsel, Senior Counsel and counsel were seated at the Bar table:

Mr G. Miller QC

Mr D. Wheelahan QC

Mr B. Coles QC, President of the New South Wales Bar Association

Mr P. Greenwood SC

Mr M. Colbran QC

Mr G. Inatey SC

Mr S. Gageler SC, Solicitor-General for the Commonwealth of Australia

Mr M. Stewart SC, President of the Australian Bar Association

Mr C. Colvin SC

Ms M. Sloss SC, Chairman of the Victorian Bar Council

Ms F. McLeod SC

Mr R. Traves SC, President of the Bar Association of Queensland

Ms R Webb QC, President of the Northern Territory Bar Association

Mr M. Livesey QC, President of the South Australian Bar Association

Mr M. O’Farrell SC

Mr P. Quinlan SC, Vice-President of the Western Australian Bar Association

FRENCH CJ: Mr Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth.

MR GAGELER: May it please the Court, I inform the Court that James Richard Faulkner here present has been appointed as Senior Counsel for the Commonwealth of Australia. He ranks in seniority after George Witynski.

FRENCH CJ: Thank you, Mr Solicitor. Mr Coles, President of the New South Wales Bar Association.

MR COLES: May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Senior Counsel in the State of New South Wales:

They are:

Braddon Hamilton Hughes who ranks in seniority after Geoffrey Ross Kennett

Peter Joseph Mooney who ranks in seniority after Braddon Hamilton Hughes

Patrick William Larkin who ranks in seniority after Peter Joseph Mooney

Gregory Anthony Farmer who ranks in seniority after Patrick William Larkin

Philip Ross Clay who ranks in seniority after Gregory Anthony Farmer

Mark Anthony Robinson who ranks in seniority after Philip Ross Clay

Richard Howard Weinstein who ranks in seniority after Mark Anthony Robinson

Marcus Wolstenholme Young who ranks in seniority after Richard Howard Weinstein

Richard John Cheney who ranks in seniority after Marcus Wolstenholme Young

Robert Steven Hollo who ranks in seniority after Richard John Cheney

Sarah Megan McNaughton who ranks in seniority after Robert Steven Hollo

Duncan Trevor Miller who ranks in seniority after Sarah Megan McNaughton

James George Renwick who ranks in seniority after Duncan Trevor Miller

Alister Andrew Henskens who ranks in seniority after James George Renwick

Anthony Philip Peter Lo Surdo who ranks in seniority after Alister Andrew Henskens

Ian Gordon Bramwell Roberts who ranks in seniority after Anthony Philip Peter Lo Surdo

John Michael Hennessy who ranks in seniority after Michael Alan Jones

Richard Campbell Beasley who ranks in seniority after John Michael Hennessy

Ian Robert Pike who ranks in seniority after Richard Campbell Beasley

Cameron Andrew Moore who ranks in seniority after Ian Robert Pike

Michael Bryan Joshua Lee who ranks in seniority after Cameron Andrew Moore

Jeremy Kevin Kirk who ranks in seniority after Michael Bryan Joshua Lee

Kristina Anne Stern who ranks in seniority after Jeremy Kevin Kirk

If the Court please.

FRENCH CJ: Thank you, Mr Coles. Mr Livesey, President of the South Australia Bar Association.

MR LIVESEY: May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following member of the Bar here present has been appointed as Senior Counsel for the State of South Australia.

She is:

Geraldine Davison who ranks in seniority after Adam Patrick Kimber

FRENCH CJ: Thank you, Mr Livesey. Mr Traves, President of the Bar Association of Queensland.

MR TRAVES: 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:

Damian Glen Clothier who ranks in seniority after Kenneth Anthony Barlow

Elizabeth Sybil Wilson who ranks in seniority after Damian Glen Clothier

Susan Elizabeth Brown who ranks in seniority after Elizabeth Sybil Wilson

FRENCH CJ: Thank you, Mr Traves. Ms Sloss, Chairman of the Victorian Bar Council.

MS SLOSS: May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Senior Counsel in and for the State of Victoria.

They are:

William Evan Stuart who ranks in seniority after David James Batt

Thomas Gyorffy who ranks in seniority after William Evan Stuart

Daniel Masel who ranks in seniority after Thomas Gyorffy

Michael Hugh O’Bryan who ranks in seniority after Daniel Masel

Martin Rothwell Scott who ranks in seniority after Michael Hugh O’Bryan

Caroline Eve Kirton who ranks in seniority after Martin Rothwell Scott

Stephen Andrew O’Meara who ranks in seniority after Peter Barrington Kidd

James Peter Gorton who ranks in seniority after Stephen Andrew O’Meara

Peter Robert Darling Gray who ranks in seniority after James Peter Gorton

Stuart John Wood who ranks in seniority after Peter Robert Darling Gray

Dr Matthew John Collins who ranks in seniority after Stuart John Wood

Lesley Ann Taylor who ranks in seniority after Dr Matthew John Collins

Dr Stephen Paul Donaghue who ranks in seniority after Lesley Ann Taylor

Michael James Croucher who ranks in seniority after Dr Stephen Paul Donaghue

If the Court please.

FRENCH CJ: Thank you, Ms Sloss. Mr Quinlan, Vice-President of the Western Australian Bar Association.

MR QUINLAN: 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 Western Australia.

They are:

Brahmananda Dharmananda who ranks in seniority after Dr James Austin Thomson

Joseph McGrath who ranks in seniority after Brahmananda Dharmananda

FRENCH CJ: Thank you, Mr Quinlan. I call on counsel at the Bar generally for motions.

In addition to the Solicitor-General for the Commonwealth and the representatives of the Bar Associations of the States, who have announced to the Court newly appointed Senior Counsel from their States, I acknowledge the presence in Court of other Senior Counsel – Mr Miller, Mr Wheelahan, Mr Greenwood, Mr Colbran, Mr Inatey, Mr Stewart, President of the Australian Bar Association, Mr Colvin, Ms McLeod, Ms Webb, the President of the Northern Territory Bar Association and Mr O’Farrell.

On behalf of the members of the Court I also welcome the friends and family of the new Senior Counsel. I acknowledge the presence in Court in that capacity of Justice Janine Pritchard of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The level of professional commitment that is necessary to attain the office of Senior Counsel is difficult to sustain without the support of family, partners and friends. Your attendance in Court today is indicative of that continuing support.

On behalf of the members of the Court I congratulate the newly appointed Senior Counsel. That you and representatives of State and Territory Bar Associations have come together for this annual ceremony emphasises the reality that you are part of a national legal profession practising in the courts of a national judicial system. Your appointments indicate that you have the confidence of the legal profession, that you have attained a high degree of professional excellence and that you have the attributes of integrity and independence which mark you as exemplars and leaders in the profession. It is predominantly, although not exclusively, from within the ranks of Senior Counsel that members of the senior judiciary are appointed.

Each of you can properly regard your appointment as an honour. It is, however, as you all well know, an honour which carries responsibilities and expectations from the judiciary, your colleagues in the profession and the wider Australian community. The most immediate and acute of those responsibilities which will confront you every working day arises in the advice you offer and the advocacy you provide for your clients.

The client may be an individual facing a personal crisis with a legal dimension which affects his or her wellbeing, reputation or even liberty. The client may be a corporation or a public authority or a government seeking advice and representation in relation to complex transactions, the exercise of regulatory powers or the interpretation and validity of laws. The difficulty and complexity of the matters on which you will be asked to act may vary. Each, however, will require the same high level of care, commitment, integrity and independence.

Beyond serving the interests of individual clients, what you do has a public dimension. If done to the high standard your office requires, your work contributes to the maintenance of the values which underpin the Australian legal system. The public dimension of your calling is manifest when you are able to provide your services to those who are unable to afford legal representation from their own resources and whom the limited resources of legal aid cannot assist or cannot assist to the extent necessary to do justice to their case. When counsel who are leaders in the profession offer their services in such cases, a powerful signal is sent to the wider community about the Bar and the values which underpin it.

A further public dimension of your role is the opportunity which it provides to make a contribution, whether through a Bar Association or in other ways to the improvement of the administration of justice and the reform of the law.

The calling of Senior Counsel has a long and honourable history of which you are now able to be part. On behalf of the Court, I again congratulate you on your appointments and wish you well in your continuing careers at the Bar.

The Court will adjourn until 10.15 tomorrow morning.

AT 3.43 PM THE COURT ADJOURNED