Representative status of applicants seeking special leave to appeal to the High Court

11/06/2009

The registrar of the High Court, Mr Andrew Phelan, has written to the Bar Association regarding counsel who are engaged on a direct briefing basis by applicants seeking special leave to appeal. In applications in which there is no solicitor on the record it is difficult for registry staff to detect from the initial application whether the applicant has directly briefed counsel. This has led to some such applicants being treated as unrepresented for the purposes of Rule 41.10.

To avoid this confusion, the registrar has asked members of the bar accepting direct briefs in applications for special leave to appeal to ensure that any direct brief arrangement is brought to the attention of the registry staff and the other parties upon filing. This could be done by a letter from the applicant confirming that he or she has engaged counsel on a direct briefing basis.

**11 June 2009 **