McGILL
LAW JOURNAL
VoLum 7
MoNTREAL, 1961
NUmmm 2
Editorial Notes
The “Q.C.”,
legal profession.
The title of “Queen’s Counsel”
appended to a lawyer’s name theo-
retically marks him as a lawyer of
outstanding competence and ability
held in high esteem both within and
In
without the
actual fact, however, we find that
both in Quebec and in some other
provinces of Canada the “Q.C.” has
assumed a somewhat different mean-
“Q.C.’s” are
ing and significance.
today frequently conferred not only
on selected lawyers of long-standing
reputation and ability but also on
many a “Tom, Dick, and Harry”
with the right political influence, and
it is by no means a secret amongst
both lawyers and laymen that many
lawyers who have had this title
them have rarely
bestowed upon
appeared in court. Moreover, it is
generally recognized that, to acquire
this title, it is frequently sufficient to
support-financially or otherwise-a
victorious political party.
To students soon to embark upon
the practice of law, this ‘aspect’ that
has been attached to the “Q.C.” is
of deepest concern. We cannot help
but feel that a result of this ambi-
valent use of the “Q.C.” has been
learned
to some extent to cast disrepute on
the honour and dignity of such title.
The title of “Q.C.”, along with
most other titles of the legal profes-
is of British origin and was
sion,
imported. It signifies “One of Her
in the
Majesty’s counsel
law”. In England the title of “Q.C.”
is conferred only upon barristers or
“courtroom”
lawyers, as distinct
from solicitors. A barrister who feels
that he is a leader in the profession
will apply to “take silk”, or in other
words to be appointed a “Q.C.”
it
The appointment carries with
certain responsibilities unknown to
in Canada. For example,
“Q.C.’s”
a “Q.C.” in England is expected to
take on only important cases and to
have by his side a junior who is
take over whenever
available
in
needed. Moreover, a “Q.C.”
England can demand a higher fee
than other barristers without this
title.
to
In England, “Q.C.’s” constitute a
select few who have been carefully
screened in terms of competence and
reputation prior to their appoint-
ment. In 1958, out of one thousand
nine hundred and sixty-eight bar-
risters, one hundred and eighty-three
McGILL LAW JOURNAL
[Vol. 7
were “Q.C.’s”. Moreover, there were
about thirty-three thousand solici-
tors in England, so that the propor-
tion of “Q.C.’s” to the rest of the
profession was about one out of
every one hundred and ninety.
In
Canada, on the other hand, statistics
have shown that the number of
“Q.C.’s” to lawyers has been about
one out of every
In this
respect, Quebec has been no excep-
tion. Of course, we recognize that
in Canada the English distinction
between barrister and solicitor has
not been adopted and thus “‘Q.C.’s”
are not confined to the “courtroom”
lawyer or barrister in the English
sense of the word. Nevertheless, the
proportion of “Q.C.’s” to the total
number of lawyers in Canada is still
relatively high.
three.
In both England and Canada, the
appointment of “Q.C.” has been,
broadly speaking, a political act.
Yet there is no doubt that in England
“Q.C.” appointees are lawyers truly
“‘learned in the law” as the honour
was intended to signify. In contrast,
the number of appointments of
“Q.C.’s” in Canada, particularly in
Quebec, has recently been so great,
and at times so arbitrary, that the
title has lost a measurable amount of
respect in the eyes of the profession
and the public.
We hope that something will be
done in the very near future to restore
the full measure of dignity and
honour formerly attached
to the
title of “Q.C.”
in, Quebec. Perhaps
a Committee of the Bar, composed
of some five or six distinguished and
eminent members of the legal pro-
fession, might recommend pro-
spective “Q.C.’s”, such recommen-
dations to be ratified by the Chief
Justice of the Court of Appeal and
either the Chief Justice or Associate
Chief Justice of the Superior Court.
It should then be mandatory upon
the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council
of the Province to grant the honour.
The “Q.C.”, by detaching
itself
from any political influence, will thus
become a highly respected and much
sought after institution as it original-
ly was intended to be. At the very
least, we hope that the present
government of Quebec, in line with
its general efforts to remove various
kinds of political patronage, will see
fit to adopt a similar policy with
respect to the title of “Q.C.” by
bestowing this honour upon those
members of the Bar, including full-
time teachers or professors, who are
truly deserving of the distinction on
the basis of high accomplishment in
their professional capacity, rather
than because of activities less re-
levant to the advancement of the
law.
Coming Issues
Due to unforeseen circumstances
the special issue on legal education,
which was supposed to have ap-
peared as number two, of volume 7,
will appear in number three, to be
published next month.
