Bar Council business for April-May 2009

18/06/2009

Matters reported elsewhere in In Brief are omitted from this summary of Bar Council business. Bar Council regularly considers requests by the attorney general, the courts and other agencies for advice on proposed legislation. Because that advice is sought on a confidential basis, it is not noted in this summary. Any member interested in a particular matter should contact the executive director for further information.

** Presidentâs report**

The president advised that in the past few weeks she had attended a number of meetings and functions representing the Bar Association.

7 April 2009: the 2009 Sir Maurice Byers Lecture, âBeyond the text: A vision of the structure and function of the Constitutionâ, by Stephen Gageler SC.

8 April 2009: the president and the executive director had met with Attorney-General Robert McClelland. Matters discussed included judicial resources available to the Federal Court and Family Court in Sydney; the national consultation being undertaken on a charter of rights and the repeal of section 55D of the_ Judiciary Act 1903._

14 April 2009: the president attended the swearing-in ceremony at the District Court for Andrew Colefax SC and former Deputy Chief Magistrate Helen Syme. The attorney general addressed the court on behalf of the bar.

30 April 2009: official opening of the new Sydney Law School Building

1 May 2009: the swearing-in of the Hon Justice Rachel Pepper of the Land and Environment Court at which she spoke on behalf of the bar.

4 May 2009: the âopeningâ of the current of Bar Practice Course

**8 May 2009: Bench and Bar Dinner: **the president noted the success of the Bench and Bar Dinner held on the evening of Friday, 8 May 2009. She thanked Anne Horvath and Philip Boulten SC for their contributions to the success of the evening. The president is writing to the chief justice thanking him both for attending and speaking at the dinner. ï¿½

9 May 2009:ï¿½ meeting of the Council of the Australian Bar Association

11 May 2009: the president delivered the occasional address at a graduation ceremony of law, commerce and arts students at the University of NSW.

A charter of rights

The president advised that on 22 April Bret Walker SC and Simeon Beckett had attended a meeting convened by the Human Rights Commission to discuss the constitutional implications of an Australian human Rights Act. The unanimous view of the meeting was that a Human Rights Act can be drafted that would be constitutionally valid. The information gained at that meeting would be of assistance to the Human Rights Committee in its drafting of the associationâs submission to the National Human Rights Consultation Committee.

Barristers in schools programme

The president advised that during Law Week (10 - 15 May) Year 5 and 6 students from four schools were participating in the Barristers in Schools Programme: Penrith; Summer Hill; Newbridge Heights and Newtown North public schools.ï¿½ The exercise with Newtown North Public School was to be conducted in the court room at the Police and Justice Museum with the children appearing in the mock trial with wigs and gowns.

The president had attended the Summer Hill School activity on 12 May.ï¿½ The_ Daily Telegraph_ had given positive coverage to this event.

The children have been enthusiastic participants and the feed back from the schools and the Department of Education and training has been excellent.ï¿½ The president thanked members of the Working Party on the Bar in the Community, and in particular Karen Conte-Mills, Margaret Cunneen SC and Andrew Martin for preparing the curriculum and conducting the programme.

Local Court liaison person

The president advised that the chief magistrate had recently asked for nominees for several working parties being restructured by the court. She was keen to ensure that the associationâs representatives on court liaison bodies practice predominantly in that court.ï¿½ Lester Fernandez of Forbes Chambers had been appointed the Local Court liaison person. ï¿½

The president and the Bar Council expressed their appreciation for the many years' efforts by Traill in her role as the Local Court liaison person.

Renewal of practising certificates and association membership

The executive director advised that earlier in the day renewal documentation for practising certificate and membership had been posted to all members of the bar. It had not been possible to issue the documentation earlier because of difficulties in settling with the insurers the wording of the various policies. Unfortunately, it appeared likely that the PII premiums will increase significantly.ï¿½ ï¿½

**National Legal Profession Reform **

The executive director advised that the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) had agreed the draft legislation providing uniform laws regulating the legal profession across Australia be prepared for consideration by COAG within 12 months. A taskforce had been appointed by the attorney-general to make recommendation and prepare the draft legislation. The attorney-general would be appointing a consultative group to assist the taskforce. ï¿½

Judiciary Act 1903

The executive director advised that the Australian Government had now responded to representations from the Bar Association and had included a clause in Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Identity Crimes and other Measures) Bill 2008 to repeal s 5DD of the Judiciary Act 1903, which allowed persons on a roll of legal practitioners to appear in territory courts, including the High Court of Australia, even though they did not hold a current practicing certificate. This anomaly had arisen because this section of the Judiciary Act had not been amended since the introduction of practicing certificates many years ago. ï¿½

Renewal of practicing certificate and professional indemnity insurance policies

The executive director advised that a submission seeking the attorney generalâs approval to the 2009/10 practicing certificate fees and the professional indemnity insurance policies being offered by four insurers/brokers were with the attorney general for his approval.

Election of new secretary

Rachel Pepper formally resigned as secretary of the Bar Association and as a director of the Bar Association. Paresh Khandhar was unanimously elected as the new secretary of the Bar Association.

Silk Selection Committee and information session on silk application process

The Bar Council endorsed the presidentâs recommendation that the 2009 Senior Counsel Selection Committee members be the president, senior vice-president, Anthony Bannon SC, John Griffiths SC and Geoffrey Bellew SC .

Amendment of the Constitution of the New South Wales Bar Association

The Bar Council approved in principal the proposed amendments to the Constitution of the New South Wales Bar Association, other than the proposal to reduce the number of members required to form a quorum at a general meeting from 25 to five.ï¿½

The Bar Council asked that a revised version of the proposed new Constitution be bought back to a future meeting of the council, together with the proposed motions to be moved at a general meeting seeking approval to the amendments.ï¿½ The council indicated that itï¿½ was inclined to put the new constitution before the Annual General Meeting to be held in November.

**Delegation to and appointment as authorised persons **

Bar Council resolved to delegate pursuant to s 696(2) of the Legal Profession Act 2004 to the Jennifer Pearce, director, professional conduct and Emma Day, deputy director, professional conduct the powers and functions of the Bar Council to issue notices which may or are required to be issued under the_ Legal Profession Act 2004._

It was further resolved to appoint pursuant to s 531A of the Legal Profession Act 2004, Jennifer Pearce and Emma Day to be authorised persons for the purposes of Part 4.4 of the Legal Profession Act 2004 but only for the purpose of exercising powers under Part 6.2 of the Legal Profession Act 2004.

Ms Rachel Pepper

The Bar Council noted with regret that this was the last meeting of the council that would be attended by Rachel Pepper.ï¿½ Pepper had been a member of the council since 2001 and secretary since 2007. The president advised that Pepper had agreed to remain on the Equal Opportunity Committee, the work of which she has given considerable time and effort. ï¿½

The Bar Council gave Pepper a vote of thanks for her dedication to the work of the Bar Council, the Bar Association and more generally to the community, and to the rule of law in Fiji. She will be a considerable loss to the Bar Council.ï¿½ The Bar Councilâs loss will be the Land and Environment Courtâs gain.

New bar councillor

The president welcomed Dominic Toomey to the Bar Council, replacing Rachel Pepper on her appointment to the Land and Environment Court.

Should details of reprimands be published by the Bar Association?

The Bar Council was inclined to the publication of reprimands on the Bar Associationâs website, but not necessarily in the same form as appears on the legal services commissionerâs website. Further, the council wished to consider the question of the duration of the publication. The director, professional conduct was asked to prepare a memorandum on these matters for discussion at a future meeting of the council.

Approval of the proposed fee regime for practicing certificate fees for barristers for the year commencing 1 July 2009

The Bar Council noted the attorney generalâs approval for a 3.8 per cent increase in practising certificate fees for 2009- 2010. The Bar Council also noted the attorney generalâs approval of the regulatory/public interest and regulatory activities analysis that had been undertaken by the association. The Bar Council expressed its thanks to the executive director and his staff for the large amount of work that had been undertaken in the preparation of this analysis.

**18 June 2009 **

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