NOTICE UNDER SECTION 223(1) OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION ACT 2007

TAKE NOTICE that the Bar Association of Queensland, as the regulatory authority for barristers in Queensland under the Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) (the Act), proposes to make a legal profession rule. The new proposed legal profession rule seeks to amend the 2011 Barristers’ Rule, as amended, (the Rules) by amending rule 3 and rule 9(c). The amendment also necessitates a consequential amendment to the preface at rule 1 of the Rules.

The object of the proposed amendment to rule 3 is to ensure that the Rules apply to a government legal officer who does not hold a barrister’s practising certificate but who engages in government work in the manner of a barrister and therefore may call himself or herself a barrister, as provided for in section 12(9) of the Act.

The object of the proposed amendment to rule 9(c) is:

(a) to replace the term “employed by the Crown” with “a government legal officer, including government legal officers who engage in government work in the manner of a barrister pursuant to section 12(9) of the Act”, to be consistent with the definitions and terminology of the Act and the proposed amendment to rule 3;

(b) to extend to barristers employed by Legal Aid Queensland and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service, the exemption from compliance with certain rules currently afforded to barristers “employed by the Crown or who holds a statutory office”;

(c) to remove the inclusion of rule 15 from the exemption, so that all barristers, whether employed or not, are required to engage in one or more forms of barristers’ work when practising as a legal practitioner; and

(d) to remove the inclusion of rule 100 from the exemption (relating to speculative fee agreements).

A copy of the proposed amendments to the Rules may be accessed, obtained or inspected:

(a) on the website of the Bar Association of Queensland, https://www.qldbar.asn.au on the “news” pages; and

(b) during normal business hours at the front desk of the office of the Bar Association of Queensland, Ground Floor, Inns of Court, 107 North Quay, Brisbane in the State of Queensland.

The Bar Association of Queensland invites comments and submissions from any member of the public in relation to the proposed legal profession rule. Please direct any comments and submissions to the Association’s office, as noted above, or the email address legal@qldbar.asn.au. All such comments and submissions must be received by the Bar Association of Queensland within 21 days of the publication of this notice.

Cate Heyworth-Smith KC
President
Bar Association of Queensland