Editing Proctor (section)

==Law==
===England===
A proctor was a legal practitioner in the [[ecclesiastical court|ecclesiastical]] and [[admiralty courts]] in [[England]].<ref name=EB1911/> These courts were distinguished from the common law courts and courts of equity because they applied "civil law" derived from [[Roman law]], instead of English common law and equity. Historically, proctors were licensed by the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] to undertake the duties that were performed in [[common law]] courts by [[Solicitor#England and Wales|attorneys]] and in the courts of [[Equity (law)|equity]] by solicitors.<ref name=EB1911/> Proctors were attached to the [[Doctors' Commons]], which performed a similar function for civil law or "civilian" advocates (the doctors) to that of the [[Inns of Court]] for [[barrister]]s. Reforms in the mid-19th century removed the monopoly of the civilian doctors and proctors in the family and admiralty courts, leaving only the ecclesiastical [[Court of Arches]]. Later, the [[Judicature Acts]] of 1873 and 1875, which created the [[Senior Courts of England and Wales|Supreme Court of Judicature]], combined the three roles (proctor, attorney, and solicitor) into the common profession of "solicitor of the Supreme Court".

====King/Queen's Proctor====
The King/Queen's Proctor is the historical name for an official who acted for the Crown in certain courts in England. The modern name of the office is '''HM Procurator-General''', and this office has for many years been combined with that of the [[Treasury Solicitor]], whose formal title is His/Her Majesty's Procurator-General and Treasury Solicitor.

In the admiralty courts, the King/Queen's Proctor historically acted in all causes concerning the King or Queen. A proctor or procurator was an officer who, in conjunction with the King/Queen's Proctor, acted as the attorney or solicitor in all causes concerning the [[British Admiralty|Lord High Admiral]]'s affairs in the [[High Court of Admiralty]] and other courts.<ref name="EB1911" />

In [[probate]] and divorce courts, this official acted as the proctor or solicitor representing the [[The Crown|Crown]].<ref name="EB1911" /> In petitions of divorce, or for declaration of nullity of marriage, the King/Queen's Proctor may, under direction of the [[Attorney General]], intervene in the suit for the purpose of arguing any question that the court deems expedient to have argued. The powers are set out in section 8 of the [[Matrimonial Causes Act 1973]], and include the power to show cause against a [[decree nisi]] being made absolute,<ref name="EB1911" /> usually on receipt of information indicating that the court has been misled into granting a decree.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1991/1247/article/2.46/made|title=The Family Proceedings Rules 1991}}</ref>

===Sri Lanka===
In [[Sri Lanka]], the two groups of legal practitioners, [[advocate]]s (similar to [[barrister]]s) and Proctors (similar to [[solicitor]]s) existed since 1833 until the Justice Law No. 44 of 1973, created a single group of practitioners, known as [[attorneys in Sri Lanka|attorneys-at-law]]. There were two types of proctors; proctors of the Supreme Court and proctors of a [[district courts of Sri Lanka|district court]]. The former could practice in any court, while the latter was allowed to practice in the lower courts in a specific district. The [[Attorney General of Sri Lanka|Attorney General]] was authorised a proctor from each district to serve as the '''Crown Proctor''' to [[Attorneys in Sri Lanka#History|instruct]] or brief crown counsel on civil and criminal cases in district courts, courts of requests and police courts on behalf of the Crown.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wright |first1=Arnold |title=Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon |year=1999 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=9788120613355 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUF_rS8FEoIC&q=Crown+advocate+ceylon&pg=PA89}}</ref>

===Australia===
Proctor is a term that survives in [[Western Australia]] and in [[South Australia]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/sa/consol_act/lpa1981207/s5.html|title=LEGAL PRACTITIONERS ACT 1981 - SECT 5}}</ref> Until it was amended in 1992 and later superseded by the Legal Profession Act in 2008, the Legal Practitioners Act 1893 (WA) provided for legal practitioners in Western Australia to be admitted and entitled to practice as "practitioners". That term was then defined as "a person admitted and entitled to practice as a barrister, solicitor, attorney, and proctor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, or in any one or more of these capacities".  Whilst it was theoretically possible to apply for admission in any of these capacities, as there was no separate qualification for such separate admissions, the standard practice (pre-1992) was for all persons to be admitted as barristers, solicitors, and proctors of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. Many survive today. South Australian legislation still provides as of December 2019 that a person admitted as a Solicitor to the Supreme Court of South Australia is also both a Proctor and an Attorney of that court.<ref name="auto"/>

===United States===
The [[Thirteen Colonies|American colonies]] continued the British use of the term proctor in admiralty for attorneys who were admitted to specialized [[United States admiralty law|admiralty]] and [[United States patent law|patent]] bars.<ref>{{cite web |title=About the MLA |url=https://mlaus.org/about-the-mla/ |website=mlaus.org |publisher=Maritime Law Association of the United States |access-date=9 September 2024}}</ref> With the unification of the federal Admiralty Rules with the [[Federal Rules of Civil Procedure]] in 1966, attorneys practicing admiralty law before the federal courts ceased to be formally called proctors, though the term remains in unofficial use.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kurland |first1=Lily |title=A Trying Balance: Determining the Trier of Fact in Hybrid Admiralty-Civil Cases |journal=Washington University Law Review |date=2013 |volume=90 |issue=4 |page=1293}}</ref>