Consolidated practice directions

Appointment 
25. After taking account of the recommendations of the Committee, the 
Chief Justice will decide which applicants will be appointed to the office 
of Senior Counsel, and will advise each applicant in writing of the 
outcome of their application. The appointment of successful applicants 
will be announced publicly. 
26. The Chief Justice will not normally provide written reasons for declining 
to appoint an applicant. However, the Chief Justice may, of his or her 
own volition or at the request of the Committee, initiate a meeting with 
any unsuccessful applicant for the purpose of discussing their 
application and the reasons for its refusal. Any unsuccessful applicant 
may request such a meeting. 
27. Persons who are appointed Senior Counsel because of eminence in a 
specialist field of practice may be required to provide a written 

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10. Practitioners 
PD 10.3 
Supreme Court of Western Australia 
Consolidated Practice Direction
undertaking to the Chief Justice as to the field(s) in which they will 
practice as Senior Counsel. 
28. The Chief Justice may require a prospective appointee to provide an 
undertaking as to the manner in which the person will practise. 
29. Appointments will be made under the hand of the Chief Justice by an 
instrument in writing bearing the seal of the Supreme Court and will be 
announced no later than December each year. Appointees shall be 
entitled to the appellation of Senior Counsel and to the use of the 
abbreviation 'SC' after their names. 
Interstate and territorial recognition 
30. Counsel who have been appointed Queen's Counsel or Senior Counsel 
in and for another jurisdiction in Australia shall be accorded the status 
of Senior Counsel in and for the State of Western Australia when 
practising in this State, with precedence according to the date of their 
appointment in the jurisdiction in which they were first appointed. 
31. Queen's Counsel or Senior Counsel appointed in and for another 
jurisdiction in Australia prior to 24 September 2001 and who gave the 
Chief Justice an undertaking to apply for and maintain a practice 
certificate from the Legal Practice Board are released from that 
undertaking.