Permission to appear as an advocate before the Supreme Court
Anyone wishing to pursue cases before the Supreme Court must meet a number of conditions. Once these conditions have been met, you must pass a test comprising two verbal cases before permission can be granted. Below you will find more information on the process.
About this form
A declaration from the Supervisory Council for Legal Practice stating that the person in question can be granted permission on passing the test must be submitted to the Supreme Court before taking the test.
Criteria/conditions:
In order to be granted permission to appear as an advocate before the Supreme Court, the applicant must document:
1. that he/she has a lawyer's practising certificate,
2. that he/she has
(a) been practising as a lawyer for at least one year, or
(b) held a position as mentioned in Section 220 second paragraph (2) for at least three years. Section 220 second paragraph second sentence applies correspondingly. For at least two of these three years, the applicant must have served as an assistant lawyer. In the case of anyone who has served for at least two years as public prosecutor or assistant public prosecutor with the Director General of Public Prosecutions, one year as assistant lawyer is sufficient.
3. that he/she has proved capable of proceeding in a case before the Supreme Court through passing a test before the Supreme Court, cf. second and third paragraphs.
Remarks:
A person who wishes to take the test must send the president of the Supreme Court a declaration from the Supervisory Council for Legal Practice stating that he/she may be granted permission on passing the test. The test consists of verbal proceedings in two cases. At least one of these cases must be a civil action on the part of the appellant party, unless otherwise permitted by the Supreme Court's Appeals Committee on special grounds. In the case of a public prosecutor or an assistance public prosecutor with the Director General of Public Prosecutions, a criminal case can be approved as a trial case even if the conditions set out under (1) and (2) in the first paragraph are not met. Only one lawyer can be tested in any one case, unless otherwise permitted by the Supreme Court's Appeal Committee on special grounds.
The decision on whether the exam has been passed is made by the adjudicating court. Based on established practice, the clear starting point is that a lawyer who does not pass one of the qualifying test cases will be deemed to have failed the exam. Attestation that the exam has been passed is issued by the Judge President. An applicant who fails the test can only be permitted to re-enter after two years from the date on which the court made its decision. Nobody can enter for the test more than two times.
Case processing deadlines:
The application is submitted to the Supreme Court in writing and must include information confirming that the conditions are met. There is no specific form.The processing time is typically up to two weeks.
Fee:
No separate fee is required.
Right of appeal:
There is a right to appeal procedural errors. The appeal is presented in a separate letter to the Supreme Court within three weeks, cf § 29 of the Public Administration Act.
