The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is inviting nominations for appointment as Queen’s Counsel (QC) Honoris Causa, also known as honorary silk. Nomination forms must be completed and returned to MOJ by 12pm on Monday 13 August 2018.

The rank of QC is awarded to advocates (barristers and solicitors) who have demonstrated particular skill and expertise in the conduct of advocacy. It has been awarded in various forms for around 400 years. The rank of QC Honoris Causa is separate to these awards and are awarded to lawyers and legal academics that have made a major contribution to the law of England and Wales outside practice in the courts, which has not been recognised through other forms of honours.

Honorary silks were first awarded in the late nineteenth century and it has been the practice for the monarch to appoint a small number of lawyers and legal academics for the honorary silk with each round of substantive QC appointments. The nomination and appointment of QC Honoris Causa is administered separately to the honours system.

Eligibility criteria

In making a nomination you should ensure that your nominee meets the required criteria set out below:

• the award is open only to qualified lawyers and to legal academics
• the individual should have made a ‘major contribution to the law of England and Wales’
• ‘Outside practice in the courts’ will generally mean that the award is made for an achievement other than a person’s normal practice as a lawyer or academic
• QC Honoris Causa is not a ‘working rank’. It cannot be used in practice as a lawyer. QC Honoris Causa cannot be awarded as an alternative to the substantive QC rank for people who, for whatever reason, do not fit its eligibility criteria
• QC Honoris Causa is awarded only to those who have made a major contribution to the law of England and Wales. There is no exact equivalent in Scotland or Northern Ireland. However, this does not mean that achievements of a similar nature cannot be recognised in those jurisdictions. If you would like to nominate someone, whose work is in Scotland or Northern Ireland, for an honour you can contact the Scottish Government or the Honours Secretariat for Northern Ireland.

We recognise that those who are not lawyers or legal academics make equally valuable contributions to public life, and may have done so in similar fields as legally qualified individuals. If you feel a non-legally qualified individual ought to be recognised, you can instead nominate them for an honour.

If someone is nominated for QC Honoris Causa who has been nominated for an honour this year or has already been honoured in the last year, it is very unlikely that their name will be put their name forward for honorary silk.

Please note that anyone nominated may be subject to criminal record checks with ACRO Criminal Records Office.

You can see examples of previous successful nominees by viewing some
Case studies of successful nominations
(PDF, 109KB, 1 page)

.

How to make a nomination

We welcome nominations for QC Honoris Causa from anyone, no matter what your background. If you would like to suggest someone for appointment, please complete the
Honorary QC nomination form
(MS Word Document, 87KB)

.

When completing the form please give as much detail as possible. The more we know about a nominee, the easier it is to assess whether they meet the QC Honoris Causa criteria. If we have only a limited amount of information about someone, it is unlikely that we will be able to recommend them for appointment. You can nominate as many people as you like, but please ensure that you keep their details separate.

You need to complete the nomination form and send it to us by 12pm on Monday 13 August 2018 preferably by email or alternatively post to:

Email: honoraryqc@justice.gov.uk

Please note, we will only accept nominations which are submitted on the nomination form attached to this webpage. Letters of support for a candidate will not be accepted. In cases where more than one person wishes to nominate a single candidate, each individual must send in a separate form for the nominee. This gives a fuller representation of the candidate’s suitability for QC Honoris Causa.

Timing

Please ensure that your nominations reach us no later than 12pm on Monday 13 August 2018. Nominations made after this date cannot be accepted.

Contact us

If you would like additional information on honorary silk or how to make a nomination, please feel free to contact us by email: honoraryqc@justice.gov.uk.

The AAIB has sent a team of inspectors to investigate an aircraft accident that occurred in the Western Isles, Scotland.

Read more about how we investigate aircraft accidents.

As part of the Prime Minister’s London Tech Week roundtable today, the government has announced that key parts of the OS MasterMap will be made openly available for the public and businesses to use.

It is estimated that this will boost the UK economy by at least £130m each year, as innovative companies and startups use the data.

The release of OS MasterMap data is one of the first projects to be delivered by the new Geospatial Commission, in conjunction with Ordnance Survey. The aim is to continue to drive forward the UK as a world leader in location data, helping to grow the UK’s digital economy by an estimated £11bn each year.

This is a step on a journey towards more open geospatial data infrastructure for the UK.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, David Lidington, said

Opening up OS MasterMap underlines this Government’s commitment to ensuring the UK continues to lead the way in digital innovation. Releasing this valuable government data for free will help stimulate innovation in the economy, generate jobs and improve public services.

Location-aware technologies – using geospatial data – are revolutionising our economy. From navigating public transport to tracking supply chains and planning efficient delivery routes, these digital services are built on location data that has become part of everyday life and business.

The newly available data should be particularly useful to small firms and entrepreneurs to realise their ideas and compete with larger organisations, encouraging greater competition and innovation.

OS MasterMap data already supports emerging technologies such as driverless vehicles, 5G and connected cities – important drivers of economic growth.

Today’s announcement follows the launch of the first GovTech challenge in May this year – a competition designed to incentivise Britain’s tech firms to come up with innovative solutions to improve public services. These competitions will be delivered using the £20m GovTech fund launched by the Prime Minister in November 2017.

Neil Ackroyd, Interim CEO of Ordnance Survey said:

Ordnance Survey holds the most accurate and comprehensive set of location data for Great Britain, making public sector services work more efficiently and helping to build innovative businesses across every sector of the economy.

Since its launch in 2001, OS MasterMap has been one of the most comprehensive and detailed geospatial reference datasets in the world. This latest development is another step on Ordnance Survey’s open data journey. We’re looking forward to supporting the Geospatial Commission in making this data more accessible and more widely used.

Read more information on the announcement here.