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King’s Counsel Round – The Bar Association’s Process

This page sets out the New Zealand Bar Association | Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o te Ture's process for consideration of KC candidates. 

Appointments are made on the Attorney-General's recommendation and with the Chief Justice's concurrence, following consultation by the Attorney-General (through the Solicitor-General) with the New Zealand Bar Association and the New Zealand Law Society. The Bar Association therefore is involved in the first stage of consultation. We do not make the final decision.  

The Bar Association introduced a process several years ago to ensure independence and objectivity. The process involves assessments and recommendations by an independent advisory group, only after the group has carefully assessed each candidate. The Crown Law website also provides the criteria for appointments and the application form.

The Bar Association’s KC Advisory Group (Advisory Group) draws members from KC ranks around the country. It comprises 20 to 25 members - depending on the number of applications - who can assess candidates from all areas of practice.

The process is as follows:

  1. Applicants send applications to the Solicitor-General with the application fee.  The application form is available on Crown Law’s website.
  2. Crown Law uploads all the applications to a confidential database.
  3. The Bar Council delegates authority to the President to appoint the Advisory Group. In making the appointments, the President considers several factors including (but not limited to) regional representation, diversity, and practice areas. Each year, several new members are appointed to the group and others who have served for some time step down. 
  4. At the outset, the Advisory Group requires all its members to declare any interests. They record any relationship they may have with the individual candidates (both professional and personal) and how that might colour their view. The Advisory Group considers this information, and if the declared interest is strong enough to suggest a perception of bias for or against a candidate, those who declared the interest may be asked not to comment on the candidate involved.
  5. The Advisory Group divides into two sections: civil (including specialist areas such as employment, family, Treaty, and public law) and criminal. Their members review all applications.  Members practising in the criminal area review applications from those practising primarily in that area, and similarly, members practising primarily in civil litigation review applications from those practising in that area.
  6. Each member of the Advisory Group is given approximately six applications to review.  Generally, applicants and the reviewer do not come from the same geographical location.
  7. Advisory Group reviewers read the applications, the cases and publications that applicants refer to in their application forms and contact the candidates’ referees.
  8. In the first instance, the civil and criminal reviewers meet separately, online, to discuss the candidates. Each group prepares a shortlist.
  9. The full Advisory Group then meets in person to discuss all candidates, with the shortlists in mind. 
  10. At the end of that meeting, the Group prepares a draft list of applicants considered ready for appointment.
  11. The President and another member of the Advisory Group then meet with the NZLS reviewers and the Solicitor-General.  The NZLS assessors comprise two of King’s Counsel and are supported by a senior NZLS manager.  At the meeting, the respective shortlists are compared, and any queries will go back to the Advisory Group for consideration. The Bar Association then finalises this list.  
  12. The Attorney-General, in consultation with the Chief Justice, then decides on the successful candidates.

The Bar Association maintains confidentiality and privacy throughout its process.  Candidates are not known to, or discussed with, the wider Bar Association Council or the NZBA Secretariat (except the Executive Director).  All application papers are destroyed at the end of the process.

We welcome any comments or questions. Please contact our Executive Director.

Please note that comments about individual candidates will not be considered outside the process described above.

(updated 16 October 2026)