The changes, supported by the Bar, the Government and the Law Society, mean that the Lord Chancellor no longer makes the appointment.Instead selection is carried out by an independent Selection Panel, whose membership includes lay assessors unconnected with the legal profession. The most famous fictional QC was Kavanagh QC, played by the late John Thaw. But the best known television barrister, Rumpole of the Bailey, never managed to take silk, although his creator John Mortimer was a very successful QC.How are QCs appointed?Under a reformed system brought in last year, senior barristers and solicitors are invited to apply for the rank of QC through an open competition. In 1995 the rules changed to allow solicitors to take silk.Some famous barrister QCs include Michael Mansfield, Cherie Blair and Baroness Kennedy. Becmong a QC has also been long regarded as a stepping stone to becoming a judge.The first women QCs were appointed in 1949 and until recently all QCs had to be barristers. The appointment of Queen’s Counsel was not made or applied for by anyone under William and Mary, or Anne.In the 18th century, the total number of Queen’s Counsel was not more than 20. The very first person to attain the rank was Francis Bacon, appointed by Elizabeth I in 1594 as a political manoeuvre to prevent him acting against the Crown.

Big and complex cases often require a QC (or “silk”) who is then supported by at least one junior barrister.How long have they been around?The rank of Queen’s Counsel dates back over 400 years. Many of them are also experienced and accomplished advocates, although this is not a prerequisite for selection. QCs will lead their legal team in and out of court and may also be appointed to head government inquiries or take on other quasi-judicial roles that require the skills of an impartial arbiter. Especially when many lawyers might have an amazingly obscure speciality.”Her comments will rekindle the debate about the purpose and value of the QC system.What do QCs do?Queen’s Counsel are senior lawyers – barristers or solicitors – who are recognised experts in a particular field of law.

In an interview with the Law Society Gazette she said: “I’m not sure that I would perpetuate a QC system. I would go down the route of specialist accreditation – for example, having specialist family or energy lawyers, etc.
It should be done by field of practice or sector in which lawyers operate, rather than having a system that says these people are generally fantastic lawyers and deserve to be QCs. This has prompted Fiona Woolf, the new president of the Law Society, which represents 100,000 solicitors in England and Wales, to question the value of the rank of silk. John Davidson, a former detective sergeant accused of taking money to “look after” one of the five chief suspects in the racist stabbing 13 years ago, is already expected to be the subject of a full inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).. Why is this issue important now?

The QC system was suspended three years ago by the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg, after concerns were raised about its fairness. Last week the first new QCs since then were appointed under a resumed and reformed process.

Only four out of the new 175 appointments were solicitors; the rest barristers. Stephen Lawrence’s father has demanded that the investigation of an allegedly corrupt detective involved in the hunt for his son’s killers should include other officers in the botched initial murder inquiry. It emerged later that she had served a six-month jail sentence at New York’s Rikers Island jail in 1995 for grand larceny and forgery.Last night, a Prison Service spokesman said: “We can confirm a person who was released on a temporary licence from HMP Downview on Saturday, 22 July has failed to return This is now a matter for the police.”. She gained notoriety in media circles in 2003, when intimate details surfaced about her two affairs with high-profile married men: the writer, William Dalrymple, and a senior executive on the Guardian Media Group.After they came to an acrimonious end, someone calling herself “Ms Equaliser” circulated a detailed account of the affairs in an e-mail to dozens of prominent journalists.At her trial at Blackfriars Crown Court Damji, who admitted more than 25 offences, expressed remorse and blamed her crimes on alcohol, drug addiction and post-natal depression. I have spoken to the Prison Service and they have said, ‘Look, come and talk to us, we understand what you have done’.”Damji, who was born in Uganda and has two children, founded the magazine Indobrit – which later relaunched as Another Generation after a legal dispute – in 2002. I have been speaking to them regularly, and if they want to come and find me, then they can.”It’s not as if I am trying to escape.

If I wanted to, then I could be on the other side of the world by now. I have been allowed out on three or four other licences previously, sometimes overnight, and always returned on time.”Damji, the daughter of the South Africa-based property developer Amir Damji, is due to leave prison with a tag in September and her sentence would normally finish in February, after she had served half of the 42-month term.She said yesterday: “This is all a misunderstanding. She said she had taken the decision not to return after discovering that the Prison Service intended to refuse her a licence to attend an educational course at St Martin’s College next week.”I was very upset to discover this. During my sentence, I have been learning to paint, and to make handbags.