Senior counsel

Senior Counsel, State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC), or Senior Advocate is a title given to senior lawyers in some current or former Commonwealth nations, mainly those in which the British monarch is no longer head of state, making the title "King's Counsel" obsolete. Examples of such nations are Mauritius, Zambia, India (Senior Advocate), Bangladesh (Senior Advocate), Hong Kong, Ireland, South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Singapore, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. Jurisdictions that have retained the monarch as head of state but have nonetheless opted for the new title include some states and territories of Australia, as well as Belize.

Just as a junior counsel is "called to the [Outer] Bar", a Senior Counsel is, in some jurisdictions, said to be "called to the Inner Bar". Senior Counsels may informally style themselves silks, like their British counterparts.