The Ministry of Justice is inviting nominations for the award of King's Counsel Honoris Causa. Please submit nominations via the digital form below, before the deadline of 19 September 2025.
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is inviting nominations for the award of King's Counsel Honoris Causa.
Nomination forms must be completed and returned to MOJ by 23:55 on Friday 19 September 2025. To make a nomination, please complete and submit a nomination form via this link. .
KC HONORIS CAUSA - HONORARY KC
This is an honorary award unique to the legal profession. It is a dedicated opportunity, made by royal prerogative, to recognise those in the profession who have made a major contribution to, and impact on, the legal sector and the law of England and Wales outside the courtroom.
The award is not a working rank and is separate to substantive KC appointments administered by King's Counsel Appointments. Where someone is eligible to apply for substantive KC in their role, we would not normally consider them for an Honorary KC award.
Please note that anyone nominated may be subject to criminal record checks with the ACRO Criminal Records Office.
What is the award for?
The award is for:
A significant, positive impact either on the shape of the law of England and Wales, or on the legal profession. This is for work outside the courtroom.
This criterion can be interpreted broadly, either as:
- a major contribution to the development of the law of England and Wales (for example, by dedicated research, influencing case law/ legislation and promoting initiatives),
- to how it is advanced (for example, by positively impacting the shape of the profession)
What is most important is that nominations clearly evidence the significant, positive impact an individual's efforts have had.
It is not a long-service award. Honours may be awarded for a significant impact over a long period of time, but they may equally be awarded for such an impact over a shorter period - it is the scale of impact that is important.
We are keen to recognise diversity within the profession, with awards that reflect the range of different legal careers and different backgrounds that make up the profession. You can see examples of previous successful nominees by viewing their biographies via this link.
Examples of what these different contributions may look like
Influencing legislation
- Making an impact on the law by influencing legislation or case law (e.g. through outcome of research, creating awareness or campaigning, pro bono work or other advocacy outside the courtroom).
Social mobility and diversity
- Making a considerable impact on the legal profession (e.g. through initiatives that have an impact on social mobility or diversity and increase the competitiveness of the sector).
Innovation
- Making an impact through a standout achievement or through innovation (e.g. by breaking through into new territory, such as making an impact through work on Lawtech, innovation in legal education, or on promoting UK legal services overseas).
Academic work
- Making an impact through outstanding academic work that makes a positive contribution to the law and/or legal system.
Who is eligible?
- To be eligible for the award, the individual must be a qualified lawyer or legal academic.
- The nomination must be for achievement outside practice in the courts. In other words, an award would be made for non-advocacy work.
- The award is open to foreign qualified professionals. There is no residency requirement.
Examples of those eligible may include (but are not limited to):
- Solicitors without higher rights of audience
- Legal executives
- In-house lawyers, including Counsel
- Non-practising lawyers
- Legal academics
Holding a fee-paid judicial office in addition to practice would not exclude lawyers who meet the eligibility criteria above.
How are awards made?
The process is administered by the MOJ. Nominations are considered against the criterion by a panel of representatives from the legal profession, civil service, judiciary, and academia, which is chaired by an MOJ official.
The panel of representatives provide the Lord Chancellor with recommendations of appointable nominees. The Lord Chancellor will then consider and decide the final recommendations. The recommendations are then referred to the King, who grants the awards under the royal prerogative.
How is the information about nominees used?
To assess each nominee's suitability for the award and support the selection process, we use the information provided to carry out:
- Cross-Whitehall checks to confirm whether the individual or their work may be known by, or of interest to, another government department
- Checks against nominees on the main honours system as per the eligibility criteria
- Evaluation by the selection panel of the individual's legal qualifications and evidence of their contribution and impact on the law of England and Wales
- Shortlisted nominees will undergo a criminal record check
