This presentation looks beyond the principal institutions of the three arms of government, canvassing the role of other actors within the system of governance in general and the legal system in particular. It covers the structure of the legal profession - the roles of solicitors and barristers - and their regulation. Royal commissions and law reform commissions provide a contrast to the courts and parliament, and serve a particular purpose in the administration of justice. The Attorney-General oversees an extensive portfolio of justice-related departments and institutions, including the DPP. Finally we ask: does the media play a role in good governance?

1. Other Actors in the Story of
Law
How do they support
sustainable governance?
1

2. Identify and critically evaluate the
legal system’s other legal actors
2
The Village Lawyer, c 1621, by Pieter Brueghel the Younger

3. Origins of the profession
Attorney: to
stand in one’s
place
Solicitors (15th
C): solicited
info from client
Barrister: oral
argument
from the bar
3

4. Fashion in court
4

5. ‘Sit down girlie!’
‘It would appear that
combination of the coloured
hair and the patterned tights
was thought to have improperly
eroticised the Family Court.’
Margaret Thornton, Dissonance
and Distrust: Women in the Legal
Profession, 225
5

6. Consider the role of the
profession in light of…
Adversarial
system
Complex legal
system
Common law
system
6

7. Structure of the profession
Courts
Solicitors Barristers
7

8. ‘Legal practice’
Transactions Advocacy
8

9. Scope of role governed by
law
Barristers
Conduct
Rules 2011,
r15
Barristers
Conduct
Rules 2011,
r17
9

10. The path to practice
LLB
PLT
(+bar exam)
Admission Roll
Practising
certificate
10
Step 1 Step 2

11. Step 1: Admission
eligibility
suitability
Admission
as a legal
practitioner
11

12. Eligibility: s30, LPA
Person over
18
Approved
academic
qualifications
Approved
PLT
12

13. Approved academic,
practical training
PLT: prescribed
practice areas
skills values
knowledge
skills
values
LLB: ‘Priestley 11’
13

14. Suitability: ss9, 31, LPA
Fit and proper person
Good fame &
character
Convictions
Charged/investigated
14
Disciplinary
action
Insolvent
Other
matters…

15. 15
What does
this mean for
you
as an
individual?
As a student?

16. Admission to practice: take the
oath
16https://www.chapman.edu/law/

17. Step 2
To practise, a lawyer
must have a current
practising certificate
(issued annually)
What does this mean?
How does it support
the justice system?
17

18. The legal profession
Admission
Solicitors
Barristers
lawyers
+ practising certificate
18
Legal
practitioner

19. Solicitors’ skills include
Drafting Advocacy Negotiation
Interviewing Problem solving Management
19

20. Barristers’ skills include
Advocacy Research
Dispute
resolution
Problem
solving
20

21. (One) career path
Articles
•Commercial law
rotation
•Property law rotation
Solicitor – private
practice
•Property law
(metropolitan)
•Move to regional
practice
•Community legal
service
•Start LLM (property law)
NGO
•Native title
practice
•Start lecturing
property law
•Service roles
Academic
•Start PhD (property
law)
•Service roles
21

22. Career trajectory for
women?
60%
Law graduates
45%
Profession 1-5yr PAE
20%
Partners
<10%
Silk
22Figures taken from various Australian sources, 2011-2013

23. Regulation of the profession
Profession
Court
Parliament
Professional
bodies
23

24. Professional ethics
A professional exercises judgment in the
performance of occupational tasks and
follows relevant professional standards.
A code of ethics...prescribes how
professionals are to pursue their
common ideal so that each may do the
best they can at a minimal cost to
themself and those they care about
(including the public...).
24http://ethics.iit.edu/teaching/professional-ethics

25. The legal practitioner’s
paramount duty is to the
court
25

26. Ipp J, 'Lawyers' Duties to the Court' (1998) 114 Law Quarterly
Review 63
general duty of disclosure
owed to the court
general duty not to abuse
the court's process
general duty to conduct
cases efficiently and
expeditiously
general duty not to corrupt
the administration of justice
Paramount duty
to the court
26

27. Regulation of the profession
Traditional - autonomy
Entry
Self-regulation
•‘Caesar Judging Caesar’
•Suitability vs competence
Fiduciary, other
equitable
obligations
Contemporary - responsive
Consumer care, quality
•Negligence
•Contract
Consumer complaints
•Grafted to disciplinary
controls
Consumer
empowerment
•disclosure
Competition
27From: Christine Parker, ‘Regulation of the Ethics of Australian Legal Practice: Autonomy and
Responsiveness’ (2002) UNSWLJ 676

28. OTHER LEGAL INSTITUTIONS
AND ACTORS
28

29. Commission of Inquiry
(Royal Commission)
Wherever a commission of inquiry is
issued by the Governor, by and with the
advice of the Executive Council of this
State, under the Governor’s hand and
the public seal of the State, the
provisions of this Act shall apply to and
with respect to the inquiry
Commissions of Inquiry Act 1950 (Qld)
29

30. Commissions of inquiry
Statute (parli)
establishes
authority
Different frame
of reference;
rules of
evidence, than
court
Commissioned
by executive
30
Commission
of inquiry

31. 31

32. Royal Commission into Institutional
Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
32
http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/

33. Law Reform Commission: at
request of A-G:
Research Consultation Legal policy
Align law with
contemporary
needs
Access to
justice
Remove
defects in law
Simplify law
33

34. Who is the Attorney-General?
34
A
D
C
B
F
E
H G

35. Attorney-General’s portfolio
(cth)
A-G
(executive)
Security, law
enforcement
Criminal
intelligence &
info
Legal services,
courts,
tribunals
Regulation &
reform
A-G’s Dept
Solicitor-
General
35
See portfolio agencies:
http://www.ag.gov.au/About/Pages/Portfolioagencies.aspx

36. Justice agencies (Qld)
Statutory
agencies eg
Anti-
Discrimination
Commission
DPP Crown Law
36

37. 37
Does the media play a role in
governance? In legitimacy?

38. Fitzgerald Report
(1989)
Consider the role of the media in
governance and legitimacy of
governance.
Why is media ownership
regulated in Australia?
Since the Fitzgerald Inquiry, new
media have changed the
landscape significantly. What
does this mean for governance?
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/jo
urnals/CommLawB/1989/15.pdf
38

39. Review:
what
role do
they
play?
Profession
Professional
regulation
Inquiry
Law
Reform
Cmsn
Attorney-
General
Crown
Law
DPP
Media
39

40. Slide Image
22
(image
4)
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/margaret-cunneens-icac-
challenge-tests-limits-of-powers-20141104-11gu29.html Photo:
Wolter Peeters | Image indicative only
31 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-05/qld-premier-
announces-commission-of-inquiry-into-lockyer-valley/6445526
40