King's counsel
| Queen's Counsel | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 御用大律師 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Literal meaning | Barrister at His/Her Majesty's service | ||||||||||
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| Senior Counsel | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 資深大律師 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Highly experienced and qualified Barrister | ||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Yùyòng Dàlǜshī |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | jyu6 jung6 daai6 leot9 si1 |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Zīshēn Dàlǜshī |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | Zi1 sam1 daai6 leot9 si1 |
A Queen's Counsel (postnominal QC), or King's Counsel (postnominal KC) during the reign of a king, is an eminent lawyer (mostly barristers) who is appointed by the Queen to be one of "Her Majesty's Counsel learned in the law." The term is also recognised as an honorific. Membership exists in various Commonwealth jurisdictions around the world, while in some other jurisdictions the name has been replaced by one without monarchical connotations, such as "Senior Counsel" or "Senior Advocate". Queen's Counsel is a status, conferred by the Crown, that is recognised by courts. Members have the privilege of sitting within the Bar of court.
As members wear silk gowns of a particular design (see court dress), the award of Queen's Counsel is known informally as taking silk, and hence QCs are often colloquially called silks. Appointments are made from within the legal profession on the basis of merit rather than a particular level of experience. However, successful applicants tend to be barristers, or (in Scotland) advocates with 15 years of experience or more.
The Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, and King's Serjeants were King's Counsel in Ordinary in the Kingdom of England. The first Queen's Counsel Extraordinary was Sir Francis Bacon, who was given a patent giving him precedence at the Bar in 1597, and formally styled King's Counsel in 1603.
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