| Communications and Development |  |
Published by Communications and Development
Attorney-General Michael Cullen today announced the appointment of four new Queen's Counsel including Professor John Burrows from the University of Canterbury's School of Law.
It is believed to be the first time the honour has been conferred on a full-time academic.
Professor Burrows said it was a big surprise as he had been unaware that someone had nominated him for QC.
“I first heard the news from the Attorney-General last week when he left a message on my answer phone. I simply wasn't expecting it at all. You could have knocked me over with a feather,” said the popular law lecturer.
The role of QC dates back many centuries to a time when lawyers in Britain were appointed to advise the Crown, but it has since lost its original purpose, Professor Burrows said.
It is now seen as a recognition of services to the profession and has moved in recent years from just being bestowed upon senior barristers to the honour being given to “non-court men”.
A date is yet to be advised for the official ceremony in the High Court where Professor Burrows will receive his “call to the bar”.
He said it would be an occasion full of heraldry and tradition and he would get robed up with a wig.
“They say you ‘take silk' as you wear a different sort of gown when you appear in court as a QC,” Professor Burrows explained.
Professor Burrows graduated from the University of Canterbury with a Master of Laws in 1964 having won the Gold Medal in Law in 1961. As a Commonwealth Scholar, he went on to complete a PhD from the London School of Economics.
He has been lecturing at the University of Canterbury since 1967 and was made a Professor in 1974. In 2002 he was awarded the inaugural University of Canterbury Teaching Medal.
His main areas of research are media law, statute law and the law of contract and he is the author or co-author of three textbooks Media Law in New Zealand, Statute Law in New Zealand and Contract Law in New Zealand.
Professor Burrows is a contributing editor to the New Zealand Law Review and is a regular media commentator on current issues. He makes annual addresses to newspaper editors' and chief reporters' conferences and regularly conducts seminars and workshops for the Journalists' Training Organisation, individual media organisations and the New Zealand Law Society. He is the independent chair of the Ethics Committee of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand and is a member of the Government's Legislation Advisory Committee.
Professor Burrows is a former Head of Department and Dean of Faculty in the School of Law and has been involved on numerous University committees. He was Pro-Vice-Chancellor from 1992-1998 and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for 1999-2000 and is a past member of the University Council. In 2001 he chaired the national review of the New Zealand Universities Academic Audit Unit. He is currently Chair of the Board of Studies in Journalism.
For further information please contact:
Maria Hand
Communications Officer
University of Canterbury
Tel: +64 3 364 2072
Fax: +64 3 364 2679
Mob: 027 224 5104
maria.hand@canterbury.ac.nz