Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 (the 2011 Act) provides for the authorisation by the Law Society of Northern Ireland of solicitors who have completed certain training to have rights of audience in the higher courts. The Law Society is required to make regulations with regard to the education, training and experience which a solicitor must possess before authorisation can be granted. These regulations are subject to the concurrence of the Lord Chief Justice and the Department of Justice which must consult with the Attorney General. Regulations have not been issued and the system has yet to come into effect. The draft Code of Conduct for Solicitor Advocates issued by the Law Society of Northern Ireland defines "advocates” as any solicitors exercising their right of audience in any court. The term "solicitor advocate", therefore has a broader meaning in Northern Ireland than in England & Wales and Scotland. Hong Kong Hong Kong has since the 1860s followed the English tradition of only allowing barristers a general right to appear in open court in the higher courts. The only general exception has been that government counsel (called legal officers), whether admitted as a barrister or solicitor have had higher rights of audience for many years in matters in which the Hong Kong government has an interest. Solicitors have been allowed to appear in chambers in the Court of First Instance and Court of Appeal on interlocutory matters and in open court in the Court of First Instance on non-contested matters or in an emergency. In 2010, amendments were passed to the Legal Practitioners Ordinance allowing solicitors to apply to become solicitor advocates. This was the result of proposals made originally in 1995 and moved before the Legislative Council in 1996. The amendments did not proceed at that time because the President of LegCo ruled that the amendments exceeded the scope of the Bill and could not be proposed. In 2007, the Chief Justice convened a working party on Higher Rights of Audience which recommended a system be introduced to allow for solicitors to become solicitor advocates. The new system established a Higher Rights Assessment Board to which solicitors can apply to represent clients in the higher courts in criminal and/or civil proceedings. Applicants may apply either by way of exemption (due to their having significant advocacy experience) or by assessment. The first applications were received in 2013 and it was reported in the