A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the law and giving expert legal opinions.
An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, in Scottish, Manx, South African, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Polish, Israeli, South Asian and South American jurisdictions, "Advocate" indicates a lawyer of superior classification.
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer who is typically a senior trial lawyer. Technically appointed by the monarch of the country to be one of 'His [Her] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law', the position originated in England and Wales. Some other Commonwealth countries have retained the designation, while others have either abolished the position, or renamed it so as to remove monarchical connotations, for example, 'Senior counsel' or 'Senior Advocate'.
A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separate the area in which court business is done from the viewing area for the general public.
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to the bar". "The bar" is now used as a collective noun for barristers, but literally referred to the wooden barrier in old courtrooms, which separated the often crowded public area at the rear from the space near the judges reserved for those having business with the court. Barristers would sit or stand immediately behind it, facing the judge, and could use it as a table for their briefs.
Court dress comprises the style of clothes and other attire prescribed for members of courts of law. Depending on the country and jurisdiction's traditions, members of the court may wear formal robes, gowns, collars, or wigs. Within a certain country and court setting, there may be many times when the full formal dress is not used. Examples in the UK include many courts and tribunals including the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and sometimes trials involving children.
The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdictions that have chosen to change the title "King's Counsel" to a name without monarchical connotations, usually related to the British monarch that is no longer head of state, such that reference to the King is no longer appropriate. Examples of jurisdictions that have made the change because of the latter reason include Mauritius, Zambia, India, Hong Kong, Ireland, South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Singapore, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. Jurisdictions that have retained the monarch as head of state, but have nonetheless opted for the new title include some states and territories of Australia, as well as Belize.
Judge Bernard Makgabo Ngoepe SC is a South African Judge serving as Tax Ombudsman of South Africa since 2013. He was the Chancellor of the University of South Africa from 2011 to 2016.
Johann van der Westhuizen (born 26 May 1952 in Windhoek, South West Africa is a former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Before his judicial appointment, he was a professor at the University of Pretoria Faculty of Law and the founding director of its Centre for Human Rights.
Dikgang Ernest Moseneke is a South African judge and former Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa.
Du Toit and Another v Minister for Welfare and Population Development and Others is a decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa which granted same-sex couples the ability to jointly adopt children. LGBT people had already been able to adopt children individually, but only married couples could adopt jointly; the decision was handed down in September 2002, four years before same-sex marriage became legal in South Africa. The court ruled unanimously that the statutory provisions limiting joint adoption to married couples were unconstitutional, and the resulting order amended the law to treat same-sex partners in the same way as married couples.
The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria, while a local seat at Johannesburg has concurrent jurisdiction over the southern parts of Gauteng. Dunstan Mlambo has been the Judge President of the division since 1 November 2012.
Jacob Abraham Jeremy de Villiers was a judge of the Appellate Division from 1920 to 1932 and Chief Justice of South Africa from 1929 to 1932.
Pieter Jacobus "Pierre" Rabie (1917–1997) was a senior South African judge during the apartheid era and served as Chief Justice from 1982 to 1989.
Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff, was the Chief Justice of South Africa from 1974 to 1982.
Pieter Emilius Streicher is a South African lawyer and retired Judge of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal. He graduated with an LL.B. from the University of Pretoria in 1969 and was appointed a judge in the Transvaal Provincial Division in 1989.
Daniël de Waal KC was a South African judge who served as Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa.
Leopold Greenberg QC was a South African judge who served as Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa and Judge of Appeal.
Gerhardus Jacobus Maritz KC was a South African judge who served as Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa from 1947 until 1959.
Petrus Malan Cillié QC was a South African jurist, Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa and Judge op Appeal.
