Ceremonial - Announcement of Appointment of Senior Counsel [2016] HCATrans 6 (1 February 2016)

Last Updated: 23 February 2016

[2016] HCATrans 006

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

KIEFEL J

BELL J

GAGELER J

KEANE J

NETTLE J

GORDON J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT CANBERRA ON MONDAY, 1 FEBRUARY 2016, AT 3.30 PM

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

Mr D.F. Jackson AM QC

Mr D.M.J. Bennett QC

Mr D.A. Wheelahan QC

Mr J. Gleeson SC, Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia

Ms J.J. Batrouney QC

Mr C.L. Hughes QC, President of the Bar Association of Queensland

Mr P.E. Anastassiou QC, President of the Victorian Bar Council

Ms F.M. McLeod SC, President of the Australian Bar Association

Ms J.A. Needham SC

Mr M.P. Grant QC, Solicitor-General for the Northern Territory

Mr P. O’Sullivan QC, representing the President of the South Australian Bar Association

Mr A.R. Moses SC, Senior Vice-President, New South Wales Bar Association

Mr M.D. Howard SC, President of the Western Australian Bar Association

Mr R.M. Niall SC, Solicitor-General for the State of Victoria

Mr E.W. Alstergren QC

Mr B.R. McTaggart SC, President of the Tasmanian Bar

FRENCH CJ: Mr McTaggart, President of the Tasmanian Bar.

MR McTAGGART: May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following member of the Bar here present has been appointed as Senior Counsel in the State of Tasmania.

He is:

Philip Louis Jackson who ranks in seniority after Peter Edmond Barker

FRENCH CJ: Thank you, Mr McTaggart. Solicitor-General for the Northern Territory, representing the President of the Northern Territory Bar Association.

MR GRANT: 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 Northern Territory.

They are:

Sonia Lee Brownhill who ranks in seniority after Ian Leonard Read

Matthew Wynton Nathan who ranks in seniority after Sonia Lee Brownhill

FRENCH CJ: Thank you, Mr Grant. Ms Needham, representing the President of the New South Wales Bar Association.

MS NEEDHAM: 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 New South Wales.

They are:

John Barclay Turnbull who ranks in seniority after Angus Morkel Stewart

Wayne Thomas Creasey who ranks in seniority after John Barclay Turnbull

Jean-Jacques Thomas Loofs who ranks in seniority after Wayne Thomas Creasey

Mark Justin Walsh who ranks in seniority after Paul Neil William Sansom

Dominic Alexander Priestley who ranks in seniority after Mark Justin Walsh

Dominique Hogan-Doran who ranks in seniority after Dominic Alexander Priestley

Patrick James Griffin who ranks in seniority after Craig Christopher Patrick

Andrew John Stone who ranks in seniority after Patrick James Griffin

Michael Green who ranks in seniority after Andrew John Stone

David Michael Wilson who ranks in seniority after Michael Green

Maria Maddalena Cinque who ranks in seniority after David Michael Wilson

Christopher Scott Ward who ranks in seniority after Maria Maddalena Cinque

Andrew Michael Pickles who ranks in seniority after Christopher Scott Ward

Paul Rennie McGuire who ranks in seniority after Andrew Michael Pickles

Dominic Robert John Toomey who ranks in seniority after Paul Rennie McGuire

Anthony Logan McAvoy who ranks in seniority after Dominic Robert John Toomey

Matthew James Johnston who ranks in seniority after Anthony Logan McAvoy

Grant Allan Brady who ranks in seniority after Matthew James Johnston

David Alexander McLure who ranks in seniority after Grant Allan Brady

Gina Maree O’Rourke who ranks in seniority after David Alexander McLure

Timothy Hans Gartelmann who ranks in seniority after Gina Maree O’Rourke

Edward Charles Muston who ranks in seniority after Timothy Hans Gartelmann

Anthony Peter Cheshire who ranks in seniority after Edward Charles Muston

Jeremy Christopher Giles who ranks in seniority after Anthony Peter Cheshire

FRENCH CJ: Thank you, Ms Needham. Mr Hughes, President of the Bar Association of Queensland.

MR HUGHES: May it please the Court, I inform the Court that the following members of the Bar here present have been appointed as Queen’s Counsel in and for the State of Queensland.

They are:

Madeline Mary Brennan who ranks in seniority after Dennis Raymond Lynch

Adrian William Duffy who ranks in seniority after Madeline Mary Brennan

Gareth David Beacham who ranks in seniority after Adrian William Duffy

Rowan Peter Sandford Jackson who ranks in seniority after Gareth David Beacham

Robert James Anderson who ranks in seniority after Rowan Peter Sandford Jackson

Glen Peter Cash who ranks in seniority after Robert James Anderson

David William Marks who ranks in seniority after Glen Peter Cash

Michael Andrew Jonsson who ranks in seniority after David William Marks

FRENCH CJ: Thank you, Mr Hughes. Mr Anastassiou, President of the Victorian Bar Council.

MR ANASTASSIOU: 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:

Jonathan Peter Brett who ranks in seniority after Rowena Jane Orr

Thomas Patrick Keely who ranks in seniority after Jonathan Peter Brett

Peter Gordon Willis who ranks in seniority after Thomas Patrick Keely

Áine Meadhbh Magee who ranks in seniority after Peter Gordon Willis

Michael Thomas Flynn who ranks in seniority after Áine Meadhbh Magee

Michael Hargreaves Whitten who ranks in seniority after Michael Thomas Flynn

Paul Michael O’Grady who ranks in seniority after Michael Hargreaves Whitten

Christopher Brian O’Grady who ranks in seniority after Paul Michael O’Grady

Jonathan Braham Davis who ranks in seniority after Christopher Brian O’Grady

Christopher James Horan who ranks in seniority after Anthony Paul Young

Dermot Arthur Dann who ranks in seniority after Christopher James Horan

Andrew Ian Strum who ranks in seniority after Dermot Arthur Dann

Christopher James Winneke who ranks in seniority after Andrew Ian Strum

Edward James Cadden Heerey who ranks in seniority after Christopher James Winneke

Gerard Daniel Dalton who ranks in seniority after Edward James Cadden Heerey

Michelle Shifra Britbart who ranks in seniority after Gerard Daniel Dalton

Andrew James McClelland who ranks in seniority after Michelle Shifra Britbart

Daniel David Gurvich who ranks in seniority after Andrew James McClelland

FRENCH CJ: Thank you, Mr Anastassiou. Mr Howard, President of the Western Australian Bar Association.

MR HOWARD: 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:

Paul Dennis Yovich who ranks in seniority after Michael Rodney Berry

John Basil Blackburn who ranks in seniority after Paul Dennis Yovich

FRENCH CJ: Thank you, Mr Howard. I call on the Bar generally for motions. I acknowledge the representatives of the Bar Associations of the States and Territories, the President of the Australian Bar Association, the President of the Law Council of Australia, the Solicitors-General for the Commonwealth, the Northern Territory and Victoria, and the presence of Senior Counsel at the Bar table. I also acknowledge the presence in Court of the Honourable Peter Heerey, a former Justice of the Federal Court, and Mrs Heerey, who are here in a parental capacity.

The Court welcomes the family and friends of those whose appointments have just been announced. Attainment of the the rank of Senior Counsel is generally not a solitary achievement. It is something done in many, if not most, cases with the close support of family and friends and your presence here is testament to that support.

On behalf of the Court I congratulate the new Senior Counsel. You are members of a national legal profession practising in the courts of a national judicial system and your attendance here today from the States and Territories of Australia reflects your awareness of that reality.

We know, of course, that we are part of a federation, and there is more than one view about how the legal profession should be organised and about the mode of appointment and designation of Senior Counsel, but we are also, in terms of population, a small country best capable of engaging effectively with our region and the world when we adopt a national perspective.

It is a common feature of all of your appointments that you have the confidence of your peers and that you meet the requirements of integrity, independence and excellence which should mark you as exemplars and leaders in the profession.

The institution of Senior Counsel, in common with other legal institutions and indeed many of our laws, has a long and rather untidy history. When it emerged in England it resulted in the displacement of Serjeants at Law who had dominated the upper reaches of the profession for hundreds of years. It is always useful therefore to remember, without undue anxiety about the future, that the law, the legal profession and legal institutions are subject to domestic and global forces of change.

The tension in Australia, as in other countries, between the provision of quality representation and access to justice on the one hand, and the cost of legal services and the litigious process on the other, invites continuing reflection on all aspects of our justice system. That reflection must involve a recognition that the time and resources available to litigants and the courts to which they resort are finite. You have a particular and a general responsibility in that respect.

The particular responsibility arises in the advices you give and the way in which you conduct litigation. It requires you to make judgments about what is important and what merely distracts from the real issues in the case, incurs unnecessary costs and takes up valuable time. A good advocate has the ability and the courage to distinguish the wood from the trees.

There is also a general responsibility upon Senior Counsel as leaders of the profession and major actors in the judicial system, to contribute to the development of systemic measures to reduce costs and delays and to increase the efficiency of court processes. Ultimately the legal profession and the judicial system depend for their effectiveness upon public confidence that they are capable of delivering justice according to law.

The delivery of legal services today, transactional, advisory and in advocacy has an increasingly global dimension. International law, transnational model laws, transnational litigation and internationally recognised models for transactional documents are an increasing feature of legal practice in many areas. That phenomenon creates opportunities for Australian counsel to deliver their services, not only within Australia but in commercial centres in our region. The conclusion of regional Free Trade Agreements offers the promise, in the medium to long term, of new opportunities for freer access to legal service markets. It is important that the Australian Bar act collectively and, of course, in co-operation with the Law Council of Australia, to take advantage of those opportunities.

Last year, the Singapore International Commercial Court was officially opened at the commencement of Singapore’s legal year. It is a Division of the High Court of Singapore with jurisdiction to hear claims of an international and commercial nature. Three Australian jurists have been appointed to that Court. There are provisions in the Court’s Practice Directions for representation of parties by foreign lawyers in the Court. That is a particular, and perhaps a leading, example of the kind of opportunity I have mentioned. In this respect it was pleasing to see the President of the Australian Bar Association present at the recent launch in Singapore of the Asia Business Law Institute, which has been created to explore and promote convergence between commercial laws and practice in our region. The initial participants in that Institute are China, India, Australia and Singapore. Chief Justice Warren, the Honourable Kevin Lindgren and myself are on its Board of Governance, along with representatives of the apex courts of the other participating countries.

The honour conferred upon each of you brings with it special responsibilities, whatever the nature of your practice. I have already referred to them in general terms. The most immediate of them lies in the advice you offer and the advocacy you provide for your clients. They may be people in personal crisis with a legal dimension which could affect their economic welfare, their reputations or their liberty. They may be firms, corporations, public authorities or governments seeking advice and representation in connection with transactions to be entered into or transactions which have gone wrong. They may be seeking advice about the exercise of regulatory powers or the interpretation and validity of laws and regulations. The client profiles of your different practices may change as your practices evolve. Each client, however large or small, is entitled to the same standard of care, commitment, integrity and independence.

What you do as advocates in court also has an important public dimension. If done to the high standard which your office requires, it is not just a demonstration of your capacity and skill. It is a demonstration of the working of the rule of law which is an essential part of our societal infrastructure.

The public dimension of your calling is also demonstrated when you provide your services to those who cannot afford legal representation and who cannot be assisted by the limited resources of the legal aid system, or at least not to the extent necessary to do justice to their case. There is a very powerful signal sent to the wider community about the Bar and its values when Senior Counsel offer their services in such cases.

The office of Senior Counsel, whether so designated or designated as Queen’s Counsel, has a long and honourable history of which you are now 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 now adjourn until 10.15 tomorrow morning.

AT 3.47 PM THE COURT ADJOURNED