Senior Counsel of Trinidad and Tobago
Senior Counsel is Trinidad and Tobago's rank of silk, awarded by the President to senior members of the Bar.
By caribbean.law
What Senior Counsel means
Senior Counsel is the senior rank of advocate in Trinidad and Tobago. It is the local form of what other Commonwealth countries call King's Counsel or Queen's Counsel. Appointment to it is still known as taking silk, after the silk gowns the rank carries. As a republic, Trinidad and Tobago confers its own title rather than a Crown appointment. The letters after the name are SC.
A Senior Counsel is an attorney recognised for standing, experience and skill in advocacy. The rank does not create new rights of audience. It marks seniority, and it tells clients and courts that the holder sits among the more experienced members of the Bar.
How Senior Counsel is appointed
Appointments are made by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Attorney General is the titular head of the Bar. Eligible members are invited to apply, and applications are considered from there. The procedure has been in place for decades; it traces back to a 1964 order published in the Trinidad and Tobago Gazette.
The process is neither automatic nor frequent. Senior Counsel are appointed in occasional groups rather than one at a time, and only a small share of the profession holds the rank at any point.
The method has not been free of debate: the way applicants are chosen has been challenged in court on separation-of-powers grounds. In 2024 the High Court held that the long-standing process was not unconstitutional.
What the rank signals
For a client choosing counsel, Senior Counsel is a shorthand for seniority. It does not guarantee a result; it is not a substitute for choosing the right counsel for the matter at hand. What it reliably tells you is that the holder has spent years at the front of contested work and has been recognised for it. In a dispute, experience counts. The rank is a quick signal of it – a useful one when weighing how a commercial dispute is run.
Where the official record is
There is no need to guess who holds the rank. Appointments are announced by the Office of the President and recorded in the Gazette, which together are the authoritative record. A round of appointments was made in 2024. Justin Phelps was appointed Senior Counsel on 18 June 2024 by President Christine Carla Kangaloo on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Frequently asked questions
What is Senior Counsel in Trinidad and Tobago? It is the country's senior rank of advocate and the local equivalent of King's Counsel. The holder carries the letters SC. Appointment to it is known as taking silk.
Is Senior Counsel the same as King's Counsel or QC? In substance, yes. Trinidad and Tobago is a republic, so it appoints its own Senior Counsel rather than a Crown King's Counsel. The standing and the idea of silk are the same.
Who appoints Senior Counsel? The President, on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Attorney General invites eligible members of the Bar to apply.
How do you become Senior Counsel? You must be an experienced member of the Bar, recognised for advocacy and standing. You then apply through the process the Attorney General runs. Appointments are periodic and selective.
When was Justin Phelps appointed Senior Counsel? On 18 June 2024, by President Christine Carla Kangaloo on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Senior Counsel marks seniority at the Bar. For a client weighing who should run a dispute, it is one useful signal among several.