Editing King's Counsel (section)

===Restrictions===

Until the late 19th century, some barristers were granted a [[patent of precedence]] in order to obtain the same precedence as a KC without the concomitant restrictions. King's Counsel were originally considered an [[office of profit]] and hence, under the [[Act of Settlement 1701]], incompatible with membership of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].<ref name="jstor44505852">{{cite journal |title=Current Events |journal=Irish Jurist |date=May 1935 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=9 |jstor=44505852 |issn=0021-1273}}</ref> KCs were also required to take the [[Oath of Supremacy]], which [[Daniel O'Connell]] refused as a [[Catholic Church in Ireland|Roman Catholic]]. Despite being the most prominent and best-paid barrister in Ireland, he was a junior counsel for 30 years until granted a patent of precedence in 1831.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gallagher |first1=Paul |title=Daniel O'Connell – The Barrister |journal=Irish Judicial Studies Journal |date=2017 |volume=1 |page=76 |url=https://www.judicialstudiesjournal.ie/assets/uploads/documents/pdfs/2017-Edition-01/Daniel%20O'Connell%20the%20Barrister%20Paul%20Gallagher%20SC.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.judicialstudiesjournal.ie/assets/uploads/documents/pdfs/2017-Edition-01/Daniel%20O'Connell%20the%20Barrister%20Paul%20Gallagher%20SC.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=27 June 2020}}</ref>

From the beginning, KCs were not allowed to appear against [[the Crown]] without a special licence, but this was generally given as a formality. This stipulation was particularly important in criminal cases, which are mostly brought in the name of the Crown. The result was that, until 1920 in [[England and Wales]], KCs had to have a licence to appear in criminal cases for the defence. King's Counsel and serjeants were prohibited, at least from the mid-nineteenth century, from drafting [[pleading]]s alone; a junior barrister had to be retained. They could not appear in judges' chambers or inferior courts, either, other than in exceptional cases. They were not permitted to appear in court without a junior barrister, and they had to have [[barristers' chambers]] in London.<ref name=duman/><ref name=Halsbury651/>

These restrictions had a number of consequences: they made the taking of silk something of a professional risk, because the appointment abolished some of the staple work of the junior barrister; they made the use of leading counsel more expensive, and therefore ensured that they were retained only in more important cases; and they protected the work of the junior bar, which could not be excluded by the retention of leading counsel. By the end of the twentieth century, however, all of these rules had been abolished. Appointment as QC has been said to be a matter of status and prestige only, with no formal disadvantages.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/english-legal-system/the-role-of-queens-counsel.php?vref=1|title=The role of queens counsel|last=Teacher|first=Law|date=November 2013|website=Law Teacher|publisher=LawTeacher.net|location=Nottingham, UK|access-date=10 February 2019}}</ref>

In the 21st century, King's Counsel continue to have the seniority in audience, following the Attorney General and the Solicitor General.  It is still the rule that junior counsel must follow the lead of senior counsel in pleading a case, and cannot depart from senior counsel's approach to the issues.<ref>Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone et al., ''Laws of England'', 4th ed. reissue (London:  Butterworths, 1989), vol 3(1), para. 434.</ref>