Common Law

Do you know what QC stands for? And why Queen Elizabeth I coined the term?

My sister-in-law, Poonam Melwani QC, came to Brunei last week on holiday. Like many successful women, she seems able to switch like lightning between a host of different roles.

She appeared first as a rainforest explorer. At the Ulu Ulu Resort we climbed the canopy walkway in the hush before dawn – with six loud boys (four of hers, two of ours).

Back in Bandar, she became a more conventional tourist: we have a photo of her reclining by the pool at the Empire Hotel. At other moments she was a “Soccer Mum”, refereeing on the lawn at the High Commission Residence.

Her most dramatic change of gear was from holiday-maker garb into the business attire she wore for a visit to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC). Poonam is a “Queen’s Counsel” at the Commercial Court in London.

The idea for her talk came from the AG herself, Datin Hayati (another multi-tasking woman). I conspired to interrupt Poonam’s holiday this way because the Common Law legacy which Britain and Brunei share is one of the most important ties which bind our countries; and the one we most often take for granted.

Poonam asked if any of us in the audience knew where the title QC came from. She explained that it dates back to the reign of the first Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603), who bestowed it on the brilliant barrister Sir Francis Bacon; mainly, it seems, as a way to ensure he appeared in court only as “Counsel” for the Crown.

There are plenty of women at the English Bar, but nothing like the proportion of female lawyers here in Brunei. After meeting her sisters in the AGC (“All Girls’ Chambers”?), Poonam praised the way the legal profession here has made room for motherhood. In fact, I don’t think she had ever met a female colleague with more children than she. The moderator had twice as many!

The thing which impressed me most was how lawyers in UK and Brunei have the same focus on the economic benefits of efficient justice. The English courts don’t pretend to be the only way to settle a dispute; or that the justice they dispense is “better” than in other jurisdictions. But they do claim to be especially successful at adapting to the ever-changing needs of the communities they serve. The system they stand for is ancient, but their methods are cutting-edge.

The English courts illustrate a point we make often in the High Commission – that the UK can do Tradition and Innovation equally well. The Common Law unites the countries of the Commonwealth, enabling them to differ in their systems of government, while sharing notions of justice fundamental to all successful states. Brunei’s Common Law legacy allows the Sultanate to have the best of both worlds.