Senior counsel

The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (prefix: SC) is given to a senior lawyer. Among the nations that were once a part of the British Empire is the United Kingdom. 'Senior Counsel' is a title that is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdictions that have chosen to replace the title "Queen's Counsel" with a title that does not have monarchical connotations, usually related to the British monarch who is no longer the head of state, so that reference to the Queen is no longer appropriate. Mauritius, Zambia, India, Hong Kong, Ireland, South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Singapore, Guyana, and Trinidad & Tobago are just a few of the jurisdictions that have made the switch as a result of the latter rationale. Countries such as various Australian provinces and territories, along with Belize, have chosen to keep the monarch as their head of state while adopting the new title of head of state.

In the same way that a junior counsel is referred to as "called to the Outer Bar," a Senior Counsel is referred to as "called to the Inner Bar" in some jurisdictions. Like their British counterparts, Senior Counsel may refer to themselves informally as silks. In Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong, and South Africa, this is the situation.