9 October 2008
A Monash University law professor and former Supreme Court judge has called for the introduction of high-level compulsory training and assessment of all aspiring Australian barristers to address the problem of incompetent representation of clients.
Professor George Hampel AM QC said every state's Bar should introduce rigorous assessments to ensure lawyers had acquired a minimum level of competence before they could act as barristers.
Professor Hampel said solicitors should also have to pass some form of assessment and accreditation before they were allowed to act as advocates. "The overall quality of barristers in Australia is good but a significant minority of barristers do not have sufficient skills and should not be representing clients," Professor Hampel said.
"Judges are constantly reporting cases of barristers showing insufficient preparation, legal research, knowledge of basic case law, legislation and advocacy skills. Ultimately the people who suffer are clients, who face a serious risk of injustice. In other professions, such shortcomings would be regarded as negligence. Barristers enjoy immunity from negligence claims for their work in court. This further emphasises the need for training and rigorous assessment.
"The court system also suffers from poor advocacy because it is much harder for judges to conduct cases and run an efficient system when they are receiving insufficient assistance from barristers and other advocates."
Training courses are compulsory for aspiring barristers in most states but most courses don't conclude with aspiring advocates being assessed to ensure achievement of adequate competence in basic skills such as development of case theory, witness examination, presenting argument and addressing juries. Professor Hampel said assessments that do exist are not adequate for ensuring basic competence.
Professor Hampel was a Victorian Supreme Court judge from 1983 to 2000 and a barrister and a QC for 25 years before that. He was appointed Professor of Trial Practice and Advocacy at Monash University in 2000. Since 1991 he has chaired the Australian Advocacy Institute (AAI), which is dedicated to improving advocacy skills and training in Australia. The not-for-profit institute is a world leader in advocacy training and conducts workshops for advocates in all common-law countries.
Professor Hampel also called for all advocacy teachers to be formally trained. "There has long been the misconception that just because a person is a good advocate, they are necessarily a good advocacy teacher," he said.
The AAI has just released the Advocacy Manual, written by Professor Hampel with input from Australian and international advocacy teachers. The extensive manual outlines the fundamental principles underlying competent advocacy and how they can be most effectively taught and assessed. Professor Hampel said he hoped all states in Australia would use the manual as the basis for training and assessment of advocates.
For more information and interviews please contact Professor George Hampel on +61 3 9641 6231 or Monash media officer Ryan Pedler on +61 3 9903 4842 or +61 417 568 781. More information on the AAI and the Advocacy Manual is available at the Austalian Advocacy Institute website.
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