To many, senior counsel appear to be an oddity of an antiquated system, reinforced visually by men and women dressed in funny wigs and medieval garb marching in an official procession together with all the judges at the Opening of the Legal Year in January each year.
There are only 104 of them in Hong Kong – out of a total population of more than 1,700 barristers. What makes senior counsel special, and are they worth that special status?
First, some basic facts about senior counsel. It is a title conferred on senior barristers who, using old language, are “learned in the law”. The title was first conferred in 1597, and in the United Kingdom, depending on the reigning monarch, it is either king’s counsel or queen’s counsel.
In Hong Kong, after the resumption of Chinese sovereignty in 1997, and in common with many other jurisdictions, the title is known as senior counsel.
Senior counsel are also known as “silks” because they wear a silk robe which differentiates them from other barristers – all known as junior counsel, whatever their age or seniority – and becoming a senior counsel is colloquially known as “taking silk”.
In Hong Kong, the appointment of senior counsel is undertaken by the Chief Justice in accordance with the statutory procedures set out in section 31A of the Legal Practitioners Ordinance (Cap. 159). There is an annual application process. The applicant must have at least 10 years’ experience practising at the Bar in Hong Kong. But, more importantly, the applicant must have sufficient ability and standing as a barrister, and sufficient knowledge of the law, to be accorded that status.
