10 Queen's Counsel
Appointments
10.1 The 2002-2003 Queen's Counsel round attracted 394 applications. 39 applications were from women (9.9%), 23 from minority ethnic lawyers (5.8%), and ten from solicitors (2.5%). The Lord Chancellor consulted approximately 2,000 individuals and organisations, and received around 5,000 comments on the applicants.
10.2 Of the 394 applicants, 121 (31%) were successful. Nine were women (23% of female applicants), seven were minority ethnic lawyers (30% of minority ethnic applicants) and one was a solicitor (10% of all solicitor applicants). For detailed statistics see the table below. A press notice, published by the department on 17 April 2003 (available on the departmental website at www.dca.gov.uk) provided a full list of those who were appointed.
10.3 In the 20012002 competition 316 applicants were unsuccessful. 179 received feedback during 2002-2003: 164 by telephone, 15 in person.
10.4 A number of improvements were introduced for the 2002-2003 Queen's Counsel appointment process. The resources devoted to the process were increased, and the sift panels making recommendations to the Lord Chancellor included independent assessors as is the practice for judicial appointments. In addition, the guides for applicants and consultees were revised to explain the process and criteria in greater detail and the need for comments to be as fully particularised as possible, clearly based on recent evidence and specifically related to the selection criteria. To meet concerns that less visible applicants may not receive the support they merit, applicants were invited to identify up to six of those "automatic" consultees, best-placed to comment on their suitability.
Honorary Queen's Counsel
10.5 Separately, the Lord Chancellor recommends to The Queen the award of Queen's Counsel honoris causa ('honorary Queen's Counsel') to those who have made an exceptionally distinguished contribution to the law in England and Wales or the Commonwealth outside the field of advocacy. Those considered for the award include academic lawyers, lawyers in the public service and employed lawyers. This year the awards were given to Professors John Spencer, John Bell and Andrew Burrows.
10.6 The following table gives statistical information about this and previous years' competitions (a full breakdown of applicants from this year's competition, including by age and length of practice is at paragraph 10.2 above).
Earnings
10.7 A table of average earnings is published at the time new Queen's Counsel are announced. Applicants are asked to state in the application form their earnings for each of the previous three completed financial years. The average of the three earnings figures is calculated for each applicant and the averages are analysed. The figures for 2002-2003 are reproduced below. This is the fourth year in which the table has been produced.
Consultation on the future of the rank of Queen's Counsel
10.8 The Department issued in 2002 a consultation paper entitled "In The Public Interest?" concerning a number of aspects of the current regulation of the legal profession, including Queen's Counsel. The paper was issued in response to a report by the Director General of Fair Trading on Competitions in Professions . In relation to the Queen's Counsel system, that report questioned whether it was right for the Government to have responsibility for conferring on selected practitioners in a profession, a title that manifestly enhances their earning power and competitive position relative to others. It also raised a number of other questions about how the rank of Queen's Counsel operated in the market for legal services. A summary of responses to "In The Public Interest?" was published on 14 May 2003 (available at www.dca.gov.uk). Whilst the responses received were generally supportive of the current system, few offered any detailed evidence which could be used to answer criticisms of the current system. The Government therefore decided to consult further on whether the Queen's Counsel system is objectively in the public interest and whether it commands public confidence. A consultation paper was published on 14 July 2003 (www.dca.gov.uk/consult/qcfuture/) and it is intended that the Government will announce its next steps early in 2004. This followed Lord Irvine's announcement on 29 April 2003 of his decision to postpone the 2004 Queen's Counsel competition until after a consultation exercise is complete.