CLitsdgr
23 May 2016
MsFion LenS.
President Elect
Law Council of Australia
By Email: emma hlubucek@Jawcouncil.asn.au
Dear Fiona
Re: Consultation on Revised Draft National Model Equitable Briefing Policy
‘Thank you for your memorandum of 4 May 2016 in relation to the draft Revised
Policy.
On behalf of the Bar Association of Queensland, may I express gratitude to you and
the Law Council for the work you have done in relation to this Policy.
First, it should be said the Council of BAQ regards the promotion and support of
women at the Bar as a very important issue deserving considerable and ongoing
attention. As you may be aware our Council includes four women, including the
Vice President and the Treasurer.
The elected Council of BAQ, and its relevant sub-committee, has spent a significant
amount of time carefully considering the draft Revised Policy.
On Monday 16 May 2016 the elected Council resolved not to support or adopt it in
its current form.
Perhaps the Council’s primary concem is that the numbers, the composition and the
decentralized nature of our Bar do not sit comfortably with the targets which the
Policy supports, particularly bearing in mind the areas of interest and specialisation
across our membership. The Council takes the view that such targets are not in the
interests of all its members, both women and men, and bas the potential 0 be
unnecessarily divisive
While the terms of the draft Revised Policy may suit the larger Bars of New South
Wales and Victoria, itis not considered apposite for the Queensland Bar.
Our Council is satisfied thet, at present in Queensland, women barristers appear to
compete on merit. man Asso
‘OF QUEENSLAND,
I should also mention two other matters. First, our Council is conscious that the role ABN 78000717739
of our members in the selection of counsel to be briefed is negligible, in general Ground Floor
limited to responding to occasional informal requests for a list of appropriate awl cord
counsel to be retained in a particular matter. We do not, for example, have a clerking Briebone Gia 4660
‘el: 07 3238 5100
Fax: 07 32368 1180
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Constituent Member ofthe
‘mira Bar Associatonsystem in place. Second, we are also particularly mindful that, at the end of the day,
the right to choose counsel belongs to the client, no doubt in consultation with
retained solicitors.
Finally, and in any event, the BAQ has an existing Model Briefing Policy, and the
Council is content that it currently satisfies the needs of the membership of the
Queensland Bar as @ whole.
The Law Council of Australia can remain confident that the Council of the Bar
Association of Queensland, and its membership generally, will continue to promote
and support the women in Queensland in our profession.
Once again, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to your deliberations on
this important issue,
‘Yours faitht
Christopher Hughes QC
President