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Bencher

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Combined arms of the four Inns of Court. Clockwise from top left: Lincoln's Inn, Middle Temple, Gray's Inn, Inner Temple.
Combined arms of the four Inns of Court. Clockwise from top left: Lincoln's Inn, Middle Temple, Gray's Inn, Inner Temple.

A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can be elected while still a barrister (usually, but not always, King's Counsel in the UK or Senior Counsel in Ireland), in recognition of the contribution that the barrister has made to the life of the Inn or to the law. Others become benchers as a matter of course when appointed as a High Court judge. The Inn may elect non-members as honorary benchers – for example, distinguished judges and lawyers from other countries, eminent non-lawyers or (in the English Inns) members of the British Royal Family, who become known as "Royal Benchers" once elected.

One member of each Inn is the Treasurer, a position which is held for one year only. While succession to the post of Treasurer was once dependent purely on seniority (or auncienty), this is no longer the case. The Treasurer is now elected. Two Readers are also elected each year.

Discover more about Bencher related topics

Inns of Court

Inns of Court

The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple.

England and Wales

England and Wales

England and Wales is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is English law.

Bar of Northern Ireland

Bar of Northern Ireland

The Bar of Northern Ireland is the professional association of barristers for Northern Ireland, with over 600 members. It is based in the Bar Library, beside the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, together with the Bar Council of Northern Ireland and the Executive Council. The Executive Council has taken on many of the functions formerly exercised by the Benchers of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland, which was established at a meeting of the Bench and Bar held on 11 January 1926.

King's Inns

King's Inns

The Honorable Society of King's Inns is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environments.

Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest in the world.

Barrister

Barrister

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.

King's Counsel

King's Counsel

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 Commonwealth countries have either abolished the position, or renamed it so as to remove monarchical connotations, for example, 'Senior counsel' or 'Senior Advocate'.

Senior counsel

Senior counsel

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 which 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 which 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.

High Court judge (England and Wales)

High Court judge (England and Wales)

A Justice of the High Court, commonly known as a ‘High Court judge’, is a judge of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, and represents the third highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne judges. High Court Judges wear red and black robes.

Treasurer

Treasurer

A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.

Auncienty

Auncienty

Auncienty is a term used to describe a system of precedence, for instance through years and continuance in the Houses of the Inns of Court, or among the ranks or degrees of the Officers of Arms. In many ways equivalent to Eldership, deriving from the Norman French noun "ancien" preserved in the French concept of Ancienneté, it has a meaning of ceremonial seniority. This is slightly distinct from the obsolete usage of the word simply to mean "Antiquity".

Reader (Inns of Court)

Reader (Inns of Court)

A reader in one of the Inns of Court in London was originally a senior barrister of the Inn who was elected to deliver a lecture or series of lectures on a particular legal topic. Two readers would be elected annually to serve a one-year term.

Etymology

Historically, the most junior student barristers were only permitted to watch moot court trials and stood within the bar of the moot courtroom. More qualified barristers (known in England as "outer" or "utter" barristers) were permitted to join the argument and stood outside the bar. The most senior barristers were permitted to sit on the bench at moots. This third class of barristers became known as "Benchers" or "Masters of the Bench".

Powers and duties

The practices and regulations vary from Inn to Inn, but the benchers are the ultimate governing body of the relevant Inn. The benchers govern the finances of the Inn, and they alone have the authority to admit students, to call students to the bar, and to elect other benchers. Today, the benchers of the four English Inns have common standards agreed with the Bar Council. They have the formal power to discipline members of their Inn by suspending or expelling them from membership of the Inn, and by disbarring them. Disciplinary functions are now shared with the Council of the Inns of Court, the Bar Standards Board and its Complaints Committee (formerly known as the Professional Conduct and Complaints Committee).

Canadian usage

The terms bencher and treasurer are in use by the legal profession in Canada. A bencher in the Canadian context is a member of the board of directors of a provincial law society. Most benchers are lawyers, but in some provinces there are also lay benchers who represent the public interest.[1] In some provinces the head of the board is known as the treasurer.[2] Paralegals are also elected as benchers, in those provinces where law societies govern their profession.

Source: "Bencher", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, October 12th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bencher.

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See also
References
  1. ^ "Benchers | the Law Society of British Columbia".
  2. ^ "Benchers". Law Society of Upper Canada. Law Society of Upper Canada. Retrieved 24 February 2017.

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